Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
Copyrights are not assets in the same way tangible property is an asset; authors are grudgingly given a monopoly over a particular expression to encourage them to produce, but they don't "own" the idea or the way its expressed. Copyright is only useful to the extent that it encourages the creation of new creative works, but it is detrimental when that monopoly prevents the creation of new and interesting works by disallowing others to make use of the copyrighted expression.
Copyright should be treated differently than other heritable assets because it is different; treating it as just another form of property is a gross oversimplification that ignores the careful balancing that is at the core of copyright law.
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Whether a copyright is an asset is something I am not sure of.
The book itself is an asset if people buy the book and I assume that is true if people are willing to buy the copyright?
A loaf of bread is an asset until you sell it or eat it. A recipe for a loaf of bread is an asset if it allows you to sell more bread.
The bread is tangible in that you can hold it, smell it, eat it or throw it out. You cannot do all of these things with the recipe but it lasts a lot longer.
And how would you suggest a government(law) treating copyright?
Take the case of an author dying at 27 or at 97.
Both might have an equal number of published works. Both might be successful or one, or neither.
27 year old author has children, 97 year old author has great grandchildren. All might be affluent or all might be poverty stricken or any combination.
If the book becomes popular after the authors death does the reading public have the greater right to read these books for free while the authors dependants or inheritors go without? And how can any agency make these determinations on a case by case situation. Would this not put government employees in charge of individual determinations that they are not all qualified to make at a greater expense to most readers through taxes than the current antiquainted system?
I agree with HarryT on this one
Helen