Quote:
Originally Posted by tubemonkey
I don't see how society is negatively impacted. Disney made a bundle off of "Snow White". Since that work is in the public domain, there's nothing stopping anyone else from creating their own version of the tale and profiting from it.
Also, there's nothing stopping anyone from creating a different unique work. You don't need to copy previous works to do so.
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You don't need a unique work to create a different unique work, but consider that some works enter the cultural consciousness and transcend being merely a novel (or a movie). People have often taken old works and reworked them to create new works that draw at least some of their power from their relation to the initial work.
Likewise, in the past, authors have often taken moderately successful works and then reworked them in new ways to create a superior story (William Shakespeare was a master of this).
Ultimately, since copyright is totally a construct of government, I want to know what benefits result from extending copyright further?
It should also be pointed out that after a generation or two, if copyright ends up being held by multiple parties, it might prevent any books from being republished since trying to get all rights holders to agree can become more trouble than the book is worth.
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Bill