Jay Maynard wrote: > > "to promote Progress of Science and useful Arts, > > by securing for limited Times to Authors and > > Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective > > Writings and Discoveries" > > > > The *objective* was to foster innovation, NOT to reward people. > > Innovation is the objective. Reward is the mechanism. Without > the mechanism, the objective will not be achieved.
That's quite possible, though I doubt very much that there is any actual evidence for this frequent claim. Were Leonardo da Vinci or J.S. Bach or countless other creators deterred by the lack of copyrights and patents? And even if the claim is true, the current system of exclusive rights is far from being the only possible mechanism. Tony H. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
