Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
It could be curious to have this poll run twice, once for people that do not derive their living from works protected by copyright and again for those that do. As someone that has for years attempted to run my own small business I am very conscious of the assets I've built (and copyright is an asset). I try to imagine what it would be like for an author to have spent a life-time writing to turn around and discover that some individuals would like to arbitrarily take away what they've worked so hard to achieve. (It's not too hard, I've actually experienced someone wanting to arbitrarily try to assume ownership of years worth of my work.)
Yes, the times they are a changin' (thanks Bob), but have some thought for those what started their careers when books were all printed. Put yourself in the author's position: imagine you own a work still in print after 15 years and discover that someone wants to arbitrarily take away your entitlement to that income, all for some strange idea that they are automatically entitled to copy that work for free.
|
While I would like to see copyright laws change, I firmly believe that terms for existing copyrighted material should not change, whether terms are shortened or extended. Anyone who already has copyrighted material has agreed to a given set of rules - I don't think it's fair to change the rules after the agreement has been made.