Quote:
Originally Posted by stustaff
However your forgetting that from the publics point of view they have been making money from every sale of the book and had the choice as to if they pay any money out or not.
ask if you would be happy for a small sum of money to go into the public purse and get something nice to read for a voluntary payment?
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No, it isn't the
money, it is the book itself. In order to encourage him to write the book, the government gave him an artificial right to exploit not just his handwritten copy that he created, but every other copy that anyone creates for the period of the copyright. That is his payment. And the government can set the terms of the payment, 14 years, lifetime, life +14, whatever. The author has no natural "right" to prevent other people from copying his works, and does not set the terms of the agreement. That is just the way it is - it is written into the copyright law.
After the payment is made, the book belongs to everyone.