Re: public domain question

On Sun, 26 Mar 2000, Joseph P. Riolo <riolo[_at_]voicenet.com> wrote:
>
> Copyright (as well as patent) is built on the concept of
> property, that is, land. Like land, copyright comes with
> a set of rights. When a copyright owner loses copyright in
> a work/property, the ownership of the work/property reverts
> back to the public.
>
> Don't quote me -- this is not a scholarly research.

I was quite struck by this.

Am I the only one who regards copyright and patent as basically a state granted monopoly -- i.e. having very little to do with property, and much more to do with a prohibition on competition?

When a work "enters the public domain" it simply means that the prohibitions on others doing the same thing are removed.

Yes, I know the second syllable of "copyright" seems to suggest something else.<g>

Regards,
John Lederer
<johnl[_at_]ibm.net> Received on Tue Mar 28 2000 - 00:03:09 GMT