begin quoting m ike as of Wed, Oct 05, 2005 at 04:44:35PM -0700: [snip] > I guess I'm just of the opinion that if I create something (write a > novel) or invent something (design a new screwdriver) that I own it.
You do. Just don't tell anyone. But if I write a novel very much like yours, or design a new screwdriver that's basically the same as yours, we have a problem... and if you want to keep me from publishing my book or selling my screwdirver, you need the backing of society. And society wants something in return. You don't need copyright to keep people from reading your work. If you want society to enforce your monopoly, you should pay. Value given for value received and all that. Patents are perhaps clearer... imagine a world without patents. You might invent all sorts of things, presumably to make your job easier. You wouldn't show these inventions to anyone outside your shop or guild; and everyone in your shop or guild would be sworn to secrecy. Your invention would make you more competitive, and would (presumably) grant you and edge in business. Your competitors would try to discover, steal, or recreate your inventions, and so you'd spend a lot of effort and energy trying to prevent this sort of thing. But sometimes, businesses fail, on account of bad luck, poor investments, subterfuge, or politics. Those inventions can easily be lost, forgotton, or discarded... to the detriment of society. It would be better for _everyone_ if those inventions were well-known... but it would be unfair to simply break in and _take_ 'em. What to do? Well, you come to an arrangement. You get to stop wasting energy trying to keep your inventions secret, and get the might of the government to enforce your ownership, and in return, everyone gets your invention after awhile. Everyone wins. -Stewart "Knowledge either dies, or eventually ends up as background" Stremler -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
