Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
Providing for children, grandchildren etc. is an incentive for many people to continue working whether it is creative work or not.
This gravy train you speak of is the exception, not the rule and with the proliferation of new published works these days I doubt even the most popular of todays authors will be selling in quantity 50 years from now. The few that write works that will stand the test of time deserve to be encouraged in every way IMO even if it means their heirs will get an extra $100 or so a year in the far future and my heirs might have to contribute a dollar or so towards that.
Helen
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It would be a tremendous incentive for me if my employer paid me $5 M a year. Alas, I get paid quite a bit less and somehow still find the will and energy to make it in to work every day. Copyright is a tradeoff. I believe that it was put into the Constitution by Ben Franklin, who was the most popular author of his generation by far. The original copy right law gave authors a 14 year copyright that could be renewed another 14 years (28 years total). In US, 28 years (plus 28 year renewal) was the term of copyright until 1976. For some strange reason, authors still seemed to write, even though their great, great grandchildren would not be able to reap the reward.