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But that doesn't make sense. Aeryn Send a noteboard - 05/01/2012 07:18:08 PM
No. No Jane Austen parodies come to mind.

The purpose of copyright protection laws is to allow inventors/creators to profit from their creation, and thus to encourage creativity. But if the protection extends past a reasonable timeframe, it does the opposite. There's no reason to extend copyright protection past an inventor's lifetime.


It seems to me current copyright timeframes usaully extend beyond most creators' lifetimes, so they profit the entire time. Once they're dead, it's not the copyright laws that discourage creativity, it's death.

A reason to extend copyright protection is so that descendants can reap the benefits. People create wealth in many professions that they pass on to their families in various forms.


Such as? You can pass on wealth itself - after tax. But are pensions passed on? There are harmful effects to copyrights that must be balanced against the benefits. To have a grandchild continue to profit from something, while denying the rest of the world free unencumbered access to that thing - to modify, improve upon, etc., it's not right.

After 50+ years in the public domain, a work begins to belong to the public. Patents also expire, by the way, for the same reason - to allow others to tinker with the same ideas.
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Why Johnny Can't Read Any New Public Domain Books In The US: Because Nothing New Entered The P.D. - 03/01/2012 11:33:34 PM 1873 Views
I find it difficult to see this as stealing rights from the public. - 04/01/2012 11:15:35 AM 1004 Views
Are you arguing for illegal use of legally protected works? - 04/01/2012 09:34:18 PM 930 Views
No. I'm saying that keeping works in copyright doesn't stop them from being read, watched, etc. - 04/01/2012 10:24:50 PM 907 Views
That's not the point, though. - 05/01/2012 01:05:17 PM 987 Views
???? - 05/01/2012 03:22:58 PM 955 Views
Re: ???? - 05/01/2012 04:04:21 PM 991 Views
not to mention public libraries *NM* - 05/01/2012 03:21:04 PM 519 Views
Blame Disney. *NM* - 04/01/2012 05:48:00 PM 664 Views
I don't get it. - 04/01/2012 05:51:19 PM 1217 Views
You know those Jane Austen parodies? Only because Jane Austen is in the public domain. - 04/01/2012 09:32:20 PM 1020 Views
Answering you specifically - 05/01/2012 04:57:33 PM 957 Views
But that doesn't make sense. - 05/01/2012 07:18:08 PM 1126 Views
Here's the gist of it. - 06/01/2012 04:18:29 PM 949 Views
Patents and copyrights aren't meant to last forever (shouldn't, anyway) - 04/01/2012 10:33:30 PM 988 Views
I know they aren't. I don't necessarily agree that they shouldn't though. - 05/01/2012 05:01:05 PM 897 Views
Copyrights stifle creativity. - 05/01/2012 07:48:08 PM 984 Views
Re: Copyrights stifle creativity. - 06/01/2012 04:39:24 PM 1387 Views
Re: I know they aren't. I don't necessarily agree that they shouldn't though. - 06/01/2012 12:47:50 AM 923 Views
Why. - 06/01/2012 05:05:20 PM 1530 Views
That is a very confusing article. - 04/01/2012 10:19:22 PM 1046 Views
Works published between 1923 and 1978 are different - 04/01/2012 10:25:16 PM 975 Views
Do you think it is right that Disney can protect its movies? - 05/01/2012 05:29:08 PM 931 Views
Ok, what has movies Disney done lately that were on par with its classics? *NM* - 05/01/2012 07:44:20 PM 416 Views
And speaking of Disney's classics... - 05/01/2012 10:06:16 PM 1088 Views
Until Disney discovered and copyrighted them, they obviouslty didn't exist. *NM* - 06/01/2012 12:58:55 AM 455 Views
Except of course they haven't copyrighted them... - 06/01/2012 01:53:01 AM 903 Views
nice theory but you can make a Little Mermaid movie if you want - 06/01/2012 02:48:47 PM 960 Views
Well, if corporations are now people, then maybe their copyright could be different? *shrug* - 05/01/2012 07:57:38 PM 1079 Views
Do you really want corporations to be immortal? - 06/01/2012 12:50:11 AM 978 Views
In a sense, aren't they already? - 06/01/2012 02:42:53 AM 1068 Views
Re: Well, if corporations are now people, then maybe their copyright could be different? *shrug* - 06/01/2012 01:18:04 AM 984 Views
It's a thorny issue and I largely agree with you - 06/01/2012 02:50:24 AM 1004 Views
Huh... apparently, Mickey Mouse is already Public Domain anyway - 06/01/2012 07:30:36 AM 1156 Views
Can you back that up? - 06/01/2012 04:17:35 AM 1103 Views
Re: Can you back that up? - 06/01/2012 06:02:01 PM 887 Views
Re: the piracy issues - 06/01/2012 06:30:46 AM 1087 Views
Book piracy - 06/01/2012 05:21:40 PM 1194 Views
corporations have always had rights - 06/01/2012 04:08:12 PM 938 Views

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