Quote:
Originally Posted by Apache
The point is that if the copyright holder does not want it available then he is perfectly within his rights. Just because someone wants to read it does not make it right or legal to force the copyright holder to relinquish their rights. If I have the copyright to my diary and do not want it published no one should have the right to force me to give up my copyright. And if it contained information about a crime a judge could give the government the right to read it within the legal parameters of the crime committed. They would not have the right to publish or make the diary available to others. Whether it is intellectual property or real property, within the guidelines of the law I have to right to dispose of it as I see fit.
Apache
Apache
|
...and nobody is saying that you *have* to publish or make available anything. In fact, if we change to a renewal scheme, then copyright could last forever, as long as someone cares enough to renew the copyright every year. It could be the original author or the heirs of the original author--as long as they renew the copyright it is in effect. We could even set it so that there is a one year grace period so that copyright doesn't get lost accidentally.
The point is that someone has to actively do something to keep the copyright. Again, I don't care about getting a book for free--I'd rather pay for a nicely formatted copy. I just don't want the books to be lost because the rights holders don't care about them. (or nobody can find them)
Shari