Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
as others have said, a copyright is a limited monopoly granted to creators to profit (for a limited time) exclusively from their works, with the express purpose of encouraging them to produce more works (and this point alone, which is so often "forgotten" although being the sole original justification for the creation of copyright, clearly argues against any extension of copyright beyond the death of the creator ; "spirit writing" aside, i can't think of any way that shakespeare is going to create anything new from the grave).
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Minor tangent: allowing copyrights to extend beyond death is encouragement to publish in the last years of one's life, in order that one's heirs can benefit. Otherwise, there's no encouragement to publish one's final notes, inventions, art projects, whatever--the author won't get to read the reviews, and his family won't get substantial gain from the publication.
I prefer the idea of copyrights of a limited and specific length of time, rather than "life of author." (Currently, I'm leaning towards a preference of between 20 and 40 years. Plenty long enough to wring major commercial activity out of a work, and short enough to be able to freely share one's favorite childhood works with one's grandchildren and their friends, regardless of what the media corporations would like.)