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Originally Posted by dmaul1114
So they should have the monopoly on it. Though I do agree that it's too long currently. Copyright should just last for the creator's lifetime IMO, and then it's public domain. Screw the publisher if the creator dies at 25. It was the creator's work, not theirs, not the creator's family etc.
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Allowing heirs to control copyright is an incentive to publish late in life, or on one's deathbed. Otherwise, why bother publishing? You'll never see money from it; you won't get famous for it. Especially if what you've written is controversial--why inflict unpleasant attention on your family if they won't benefit from it?
Not everyone would be dissuaded from writing or publishing for those reasons, but enough would that it's worth allowing copyright to extend at least somewhat after death of the author. (Not to mention that, if "death of author/artist" is the absolute end, there's no incentive for families to publish works posthumously.)
Feh. Bring back 28 year copyrights with a single 28-year extension. Or something similar. Throw the Berne convention out; it's blocking progress and causing insane money to be spent on frivolous lawsuits.