Re: copyright expiration as a spur to creativity

On 05, August 1998, Daniel J. Schaeffer <daniel_schaeffer[_at_]kirkland.com> wrote:
>
> On Tue, 04 Aug 1998, Karsten M. Self <kmself[_at_]ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >
> > While I'd argue for a significant time period before permanent lapse
> > of copyright to an author, preferably several years, my general
> > feeling is that if the author cannot find a publisher willing to
> > publish a work, then there probably is little or no commercial
> > interest in it.
>
> This paragraph presupposes that the only value to a copyrighted work
> is in the commercial viability of the work. Is this an assumption
> we ought to make? Under the U.S. Constitution, the goal is to promote
> the sciences and the "useful arts," and granting copyright (including
> commercial) monopoly is a means to that end. The "value" under our
> scheme lies in the creation of original works, NOT in the money
> derived from them -- that's an impetus to creativity (for some --
> many artists and writers have no intention of getting rich off their
> creations), but not the ultimate target.

If we could get this Thor decision, which was mentioned earlier, amended to favor academic or non-fictional material, it would be a great help.

Michael A Scarpitti
Assistant Editor
Materials Evaluation
1711 Arlingate Lane
PO Box 28518
Columbus, Ohio 43228-0518
800 222-2768 Ext 207
614 274-6003 Ext 207
Fax 614 274-6899
<mscarpit[_at_]asnt.org> Received on Thu Aug 06 1998 - 13:13:02 GMT