Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
Let us examine the benefits for society. Let us say an author dies and at the time of his death the book is still selling really well.
1.)If the copyright expired what would be the be benefits for society? People could download it for free, and they could make a movie out of it without paying any royalties. (Fair use for educational purposes, parodies, etc are covered already).
2.)If the copyright continues after the author's death the book will generate real income for the author, jobs for the people who work at his publishers and at retailers selling the books. All those people will pay taxes on their incomes.
Which scenario is better for society?
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You may have covered the .1 percent of works but what about the 99.9% who are out-of-print before the end of the copyright period. If the media they are distributed on disintergrates before they ever reach public domain, who benefits? Which scenario is better for society?
Also, to follow your quote above -
If the copyright continues after the author's death the book will generate real income for the author - how does income benefit a dead author? Is he going to create more new works? I don't think so....