On Wed, Oct 05, 2005 at 03:59:29PM -0700, Andrew Lentvorski wrote: > m ike wrote: > > >I could be miss reading the sentiments in this thread, but it seems > >some posts are anti-copyright? Yes/no? > > No, I don't believe that anyone here is anti-copyright. > > >Personally, I don't see why any author should have to pay anything to > >anyone in order to establish and maintain a copyright forever. It > >ought to be inherent to the creative process. > > The objection isn't so much the author. If we wanted to make sure that > an author's copyright extends as long as he lives, even that would be > okay (until lifespan extensions become an issue). > > However, it is the fact that the copy can be passed on to a corporation > which maintains that copyright indefinitely which is the problem. > Nothing ever passes into the public domain. > > For example, no one will ever be able to sing "Happy Birthday" on stage > at this rate. The copyright on that is what keeps restaurant waitstaff > from singing it. Ever wonder why nobody plays "Tie a yellow ribbon > around the old oak tree" in spite of the fact that every car has a > yellow ribbon? Yup, copyright again. That song hasn't been used in > over 30 years *and* hasn't particularly earned any money either (it's > part of a spat between the two parties). Society certainly does not > benefit from that. If they had to *pay* for that copyright, something > would have to be done to get that song earning money. Society would > benefit from either the expiration of the copyright or the forced > commercial utilization of that copyright. > > >A person can earn tons of money and keep it forever, passing it from > >one generation to the next. The money is just as viable a resource to > >society as a body of copyrighted material. > > There is a difference in how they are used, though. Ideas build on what > comes before. Money just simply is. Ideas are additive; money is a > consumable. > > -a
Taxing copyright and patent as they grow older does not strike me as a bad idea economically, nor do I see any constitutional prohibition. However, an finite and relatively short life for the rights to exclusivity are still necessary. -- Lan Barnes [EMAIL PROTECTED] Linux Guy, SCM Specialist 858-354-0616 -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
