Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
In fact, copyright - in its noun sense - is indeed a property. You can buy and sell copyright just as you would any other property. pwalker8, I think you are confusing what copyright covers (the act of copying) with what copyright is (the right given by law).
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If you want to think in property terms (and copyright, patent, and trademarks have their own, separate laws, because they
are different) then you must think of them as a "wasting asset", something that goes away after a fixed time.
An example of a "wasting asset" is an option to buy an asset. I own a piece of land. I reach an agreement to let a person buy this land at a price (agreed to at the time of option) for a period of 1 year. I pocket a premium for that option. If the person who owns the option chooses to exercise that option in the defined year, he can buy the land at the agreed to option price. If he doesn't, I keep the land. Furthermore, if he doesn't exercise the option in that year, it expires, and I don't have to sell the land and I keep the option premium.
Note neither side can unilaterally change the terms of the option (either length or price) That is the problem I scream about with copyright extension. Unilateral extension of a "wasting asset". . .