Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
A copyright is a property, whether you like it or not. It's not, under law, a "time-limited monopoly," or whatever those of you opposed to the dura of copyright want to call it.
|
I hate to disagree with you, but copyright is exactly a time-limited monopoly according to the USA constitution.
"The Congress shall have power
[...]
• To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries"
"limited Times" : time-limited.
"exclusive right" : monopoly
Now, the "Authors" can choose to sell or rent their "exclusive Right" to someone else, so it can be considered an 'intellectual property', but it is most definitely a time-limited monopoly in law.
Copyright is a government granted monopoly. There's no other way to prevent people from making copies of the text. Copyright didn't exist until governments brought it into being.