3 ms·
Every time I read something like this, I can't help but feel that society has lost sight that the primary purpose of copyright is to promote and encourage creat
by cs702 14y ago
Every time I read something like this, I can't help but feel that society has lost sight that the primary purpose of copyright is to promote and encourage creative endeavors for everyone's benefit[1], not to safeguard individual ownership of 'intellectual property.'
Is anyone at this school system even wondering, "does society at large benefit from this?"
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[1] As pyre points out below, this is the case in the US, but not necessarily in Europe, where the history of copyright is much longer and more complex. (Thanks pyre!) The Copyright Clause of the US Constitution is: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Clause http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Clause
- pyre 14y agoDepends. As I understand it, using copyright for the betterment of society is a British/American view of copyright. Elsewhere in Europe it's seen as an author's right to control one's work.
- Evbn 14y agoBut those "moral rights" are generally not transferable to others.
- jhuni 14y agoIt was intended that copyright would exist for a limited amount of time to allow people to get some profit in return for their creative endeavors. With the Mickey Mouse Protection Act of 1998 corporations can hold onto copyright for 95 years since publication or 120 years since production.
- betterunix 14y agoI am pretty sure it is meant to encourage the progress of science and art, regardless of whether or not authors and inventors turn a profit. Scientists, for example, rarely see a profit from their research papers, which are nevertheless subject to copyrights.