Re: copyright expiration as a spur to creativity

Michael Scarpitti <mscarpit[_at_]asnt.org> wrote:
>
> Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
> >
> > My creations are not public property. My creations are mine. I can
> > destroy them without penalty. I can determine if, when, how many
> > copies may be published and how many times they may be performed.
> > I have no obligation to the public. The public has no say.
>
> No they're not. They're "shared" property which you have (for a limited
> time) the exclusive right to copy. If they were "all yours", you
> wouldn't need to publish them, would you! It is the sharing of them with
> others that gives IP its peculiar value and status. Imagine writing
> novels for no-one to read. Making music only for yourself. (Beethoven
> did not even get to hear his own works!, but others did. He would think
> your proposal absurd.)

  Not even close, Michael. The great composers destroyed much of their own works, when they were not happy with them. The great artists often painted over their own canvas, when they felt a previous work was not their best work (even though we may find them to be masters today, they were destroyed by the artist).

Thomas Workman
<tworkman[_at_]erols.com> Received on Thu Sep 10 1998 - 14:16:43 GMT