Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkScribe
The claim that copyright hinders science or prevents any form of library is disingenuous.
|
If copyright was eternal, Romeo and Juliet couldn't have been written, because it would be a derivative work. Walt Disney made a career of mining the public domain. If patents were eternal, we'd be lucky to have a practical steam engine.
Eternal or excessively long copyright or patent creates stagnation, but of course no copyright or too short copyright or patents removes incentive to create in the first place. The issue is what the correct lenght of time is.