Quote:
Originally Posted by latepaul
In order for it to be your "property" in the first place, copyright needs to exist and be enforced. For that you need the apparatus of the state, laws, the courts and so on. So the public might as easily ask you, "why should we stop people from sharing your work?"
Copyright is a bargain between society as a whole and the individual creator. Creator gets a temporary monopoly, enforced by the state, society gets to use and re-use the work in the longer term. Where the balance of that bargain should lie, how long the monopoly should last, is up for debate.
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Actually, one owns the copyright to their work immediately upon creating it - whether they register it or not. Registering facilitates "proving" (at least in a legal sense) and enforcing right of ownership, as well as collecting damages.
On the other hand, the downsides of obtaining a copyright include the placement of copyrighted works in the public domain once their copyright terms expire (if not renewed) and - even while the copyright is in force - the ability of anyone to "tweak" the registered intellectual property just enough to call their version their own, with impunity. Happens regularly.