Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
As I pointed out, that was not really the origin of copyright -- but only the latest implementations of it in western society. Originally it was about the crown, the printer/publisher, and the author.
What is this magical being society anyway, but a collection of individuals who joined together to better their individual lives? The main function of society is to protect its members' rights, and that includes creators. And how is it right that society choose to favor some rights and bestows them in perpetuity and others are just being "granted on a temporary basis" (how benevolent). Creators are being shortchanged --- their rights are only worth protecting because it is in the interest of society.
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Any author has the ability to protect their work by not publishing it. However if an author wants to make money from society from their work, they trade it for money, and the work belongs to society.
But authors don't trade to society directly (in most cases) they trade with publishers.
Copyright doesn't benefit the authors, it benefits the publishers. By granting copyright to authors it means that publishers compete less, and by extending copyright the the number of titles that have copyright protection is increased, which lowers the trade value.