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Article I, Section 8, Clause 8: > “To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rig

• ncallaway 3y ago
  That is a power granted to congress, not a constitutional right. That is, the constitution grants Congress the authority to create a legislative IP right. It does not create a constitutional IP right. You can tell, because Congress could say: “stuff it, no IP rights for anyone. Copyright no longer exists for new works”, and that would be constitutional.
  • Retric 3y ago
    People interpret the constitution in different ways, but this is commonly interpreted as a requirement not just a power. Critically, this stuff is interpreted by the Supreme Court not simply anyone so someone could bring a case should congress fail to provide any protection. Thus congress could specify that copyright only lasts for 1 month, but they can’t just ignore it or set it to 1 second without the courts getting involved.