Quote:
Originally Posted by jswinden
if inheritance can be proved then the copyright protections should remain intact. I cannot imagine telling Lord Mucketymuck that he has to move out of the manor because the 70 year limit on retaining ownership of the manor has expired
|
Of course taxation achieves much the same ends. The entire value of an estate above a certain value is taxed at 40% in death duties, so every generation of Lord Mucketymuck's family has to find 40% of the estate value to pay in hard cash, or they will indeed have to move out of the manor! That's why the majority of Britain's "Stately Homes" are now owned by the National Trust, and not the original family who built them.