Quote:
Originally Posted by rcentros
So, should grandchildren of business owners be forced to give up their grandfather's business? Tolkien made the bulk of his money (in later years) by writing and selling his books. Rockefeller made a lot of his money selling gas. Why should he be able to pass down his assets to his heirs while Tolkien shouldn't be able to do so? Should business assets go into the public domain, after the death of the company founder, plus 50 years? Why do we undervalue the livelihood of writers?
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Writers are entirely free to pass down their earnings and assets to their children/legatees, just like anyone else.
A government-granted limited time monopoly on reproducing their work is one of their assets and may be passed on.
There is no natural right to have the government restrain people (on pain of fines and prison) from printing books.