Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
Mostly they do. It is the corporation concept. Corporations are based on the concept that they should exist forever, Therefore, they view ownership differently. They expect it to last forever...
|
And a corporation has the financial and/or political clout to back up their beliefs unlike the individual author. Of course I think the only way such rights could really go on forever would be if the author was to be able to live forever. Of course writer's (like everyone else) are still mortal. Moreover I don't think there can be a truly unique story idea. There are only so many plots and types of heroes & villains that can be used and re-used in new ways. For example "Wired Love" by Ella Cheever Thayer talks about using the telegraph to start a romance (between two operators). The modern equivalent would be something like cell phones or an online dating site. And of course now days it wouldn't be limited to a man/woman couple unlike when the Thayer book was written. Nothing is ever 'new' really, just recycled into a new package for a new generation of readers.