It’s always been curios to me that the author or inventor or artist doesn’t own the rights to their work for all time. Why do these things expire?
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Human beings are EXCELLENT at pattern recognition. When we see something that works, we copy that thing. Improvise, adapt, et cetera. That’s how everything moves forward. Someone throws a spear, the next guy makes an atlatl, someone else makes a bow, the cross bow, and so on.
Governments want to incentivize the advancement of science so they give you a limited monopoly on this. In a perfect world, This allows you to create something truly novel without having the idea stolen by someone with deeper pockets.
The original copyright term was something on the order of ~~7~~ EDIT 14 – years. Unfortunately, today’s copyright laws have been extended specifically for the benefit of corporations such as Disney (recall that the impetus for the copyright extension act was that Mickey was at risk of going into the public domain). Disney robbed the commons (myths, stories of Hans Christian Andersen, folk tales, etc), and then did everything they could to stop others from doing the same.
For a counter example of what can happen when something does enter the public domain, look at all of the variations on Sherlock Holmes over the years, the success of It’s a Wonderful Life, and all of the Lovecraftian Cthulu games, merch, etc.
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