Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
Why have copyright in the first place?
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The idea of copyright as personal property to be kept forever is the crux of the copyright debates. Obviously Victor Hugo (and I suspect many people who profit from so called intellectual property i.e. copyright and patents) consider such things personal property to be passed down forever. However the idea of copyright and patents as property of the individual artist or inventor is a very new idea in history. Prior to the copyright act of 1710, copyright was a grant by the crown to the publisher, not the originating writer.
Copyright and patents are explicitly a limited time government granted monopoly in the US Constitution and thus should not be considered as personal property under US law. The poor starving offspring of famous artists are long been an emotional lever for those who think that such things are property. Given that the vast majority of works under copyright make insignificant amounts of money after the initial release, I find that argument unpersuasive.