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Originally Posted by JoeD
I don't think that's fair on those who die early though. They've not had the same opportunity to accumulate wealth to pass on via inheritance to their family. Making it a fixed number of years allows the copyright to be passed on to family should someone die early in their life. Not to mention the idea of potentially valuable assets becoming public when someone dies could have movie plot line consequences  |
Copyright ending at the author's death has major problems. One example is Ulysses S. Grant. When he was near death from throat cancer, he wrote his memoirs so that his family wouldn't be left destitute. If copyright ended at his death, there would have been no point, publishers could publish it without paying a cent.