Intellectual Property is a (deliberate) misnomer. It's not property, it is a grant of a monopoly.
As an author you have been granted a monopoly on the reproduction of your literary output for your lifetime and for 70 years after that, to encourage you to create.
IMO this is an excessive period. Would you really be less inclined to write, if your monopoly only lasted for the greater of fifty years from publication or your lifetime?
Lifetime+70 is just far too long.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Perhaps you'd feel a little differently if you depended on intellectual property rights for your livelyhood.
I have a right, as an author, to benefit from my work for AT LEAST my lifetime. I also feel that I should be able to pass on the "fruits" of my work to my descendents, just as I can with my other property. I honestly see no rational reason why "intellectual" property should be treated any differently.
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