Re: public domain question

On Mon, Mar 27, 2000, John Lederer <johnl[_at_]ibm.net> wrote:
>
> 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?

No. The monopoly aspect of copyright and patent (and also trademark) are significant. From an economic perspective (my own bent), this *is* the whole of the law. Even the language of III.8 "securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right" -- an exclusive right is a state-sanctioned monopoly.

> 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>

Howso? Copyright grants the right to copy, to the holder. This is meaningless unless the right is denied others. The copright holder then has the right to make, or authorize the making of, copies. Simple idea. Somewhat more complicated in practice.

-- 
Karsten M. Self (kmself[_at_]ix.netcom.com)
    What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?
    http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/