Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
Here's a simple question, which I put in my other post: if I write a book, and I copyright it, and NEVER publish it--is it the position of the "anti-copyright-dura" folks, that they're then entitled to that book, in some X amount of time?
Is that manuscript MY property, and that of any heirs and designees, or theirs? There's always a lot of kerfuffle about how the book is OOP, yadda, yadda. If the entire question somehow is being tied to the duration of copyright--then, X years after my death, who OWNS or is entitled to that unpublished--but copyrighted--manuscript?
|
Since copyright is a function of law and government, it's necessary to specify which laws and government we're discussing in this hypothetical, and when.
Let's take a manuscript written in the USA last year.
The mere act if writing it down has meant it's copyright. The manuscript containing the written work is clearly private property. No one can copy the work whether or not the government gets involved, because there's only the manuscript. It can be retained unpublished indefinitely.
But what happens if someone surreptitiously obtains a copy of the work? Can they publish it? Well no. The work is in copyright for the life of the author plus 70 years.
What about after that lifetime plus 70 years? I beleive that in current USA law, the work then loses its copyright, and anyone able to obtain a copy could legally publish it.
Your position seems to be that this limitation is unfair. Personally, if the author and their heirs has chosen to neither publish nor destroy the manuscript for at least 70 years, I don't see that they should have the right to prevent publication.
The actual manuscript, of course, remains the property of the heirs. They have just lost the monopoly on publication.