Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
Of course, there is one big point that hasn't really been brought up yet.
Back then, much of the writings were works of philosophy, science, history and the like rather than fiction, though of course fiction existed. Most educated people had read books like Ivanhoe or Pilgram's Progress, but it was history, philosophy and political theory that drew much of their attention. It's impossible to write such works without building on other such works. Perhaps it's possible to write a novel without building on someone else's work, but that's beside the point. Copyright is for all books, not just some.
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I am not entirely sure I can believe that it is possible to write fiction without building on someone else's work. It is rather on point, and not beside the point. It is possible that even back then they recognized that fiction relies on research done of previous works. Since there was plenty of non fiction around, borrowing from fiction could be avoided. And yes, copyright has to be for all books equally. What entity would decide if something is fact or fiction?
Greek mythology again. You couldn't create your own version of greek mythology today. Way back then the people actually believed that the stories passed on were true. It took until Plato that someone showed that there were fiction elements in it. Today it is rather difficult to create your own mythology and make it believable. A vain attempt is the modern flat Earth movement (
).