Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
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.)
|
As they’re not factories, some writers only have one or two good books in them. Allowing copyright protection for only 20 to 40 years strikes me as a bit on the short side.