Quote:
Originally Posted by odiakkoh
I think life+50 is a bit too long but 28 years seem a bit too short to me. The life expectancy during the times of our founding fathers was 35-40 years so 28 years made sense. You wrote something as an adult and the copyright pretty much expired when you did.
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Yeah, I'm not seeing the upside to this for me at all, not even as a reader. Good Gads, I'm trying to make a living from my writing. I really don't quite understand all the negativity towards copyright lately. For the most part books are still one of the cheapest entertainment going and there are multiple ways to buy or borrow them too.
Sure, I get that a 25 dollar ebook that can't be lent is steep. But a 25 dollar hardback can be lent, sold or shared--or bought used for half or less than half.
I'm a buyer of art and books. While making a bunch of artwork public domain so that I could use it for a cover might sound nice, it isn't practical to put the artist out of work. They make a pittance as it is for the most part.
Lately I wanted to try a bunch of new authors, but didn't want to spend 8 to 10 bucks a book. I was able to borrow them from the library for 2.50 each. That's a total bargain.
I know authors who have stopped writing because there wasn't enough money in it. One of them was a favorite author from way back. She had to move on to other things. Yeah, there are other books. Yeah, some people don't care. But there's nothing wrong with giving people a chance at their dreams and a chance to make a living. Copyright law even as long as it is today is not keeping anyone from being able to read what they want if they are willing to go find it.