Re: Copyrights as Property (Was: Copyright Extension Bill Passes Congress)

On Thu, 5 Nov 1998, Mike Bradley <mike[_at_]sphinx.com> wrote:
>
> On Wed, 4 Nov 1998, Terry Carroll <carroll[_at_]tjc.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, 3 Nov 1998, Mike Bradley <mike[_at_]sphinx.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Wait. No, that can't be right. If I write a novel or make a
> > > sculpture, it can't be public property. The essential work is
> > > in my head; how can it be public?
> >
> > Well, the works we're concerned with are not the ones that are only in
> > your head. They're the ones that you have put out into the world.
>
> But this is contrary to my basic understanding of IP, and I get grouchy
> when I have to update a basic understanding :)
>
> What I put out into the world isn't the work. They are copies of the
> work. The work is still here in my head.

But once you put out the copy, it's no longer only in your head. By definition, the work can be perceived, reproduced or otherwise communicated by reference to the copy.

I agree that the work is not physically manifested in the world apart from through the copy, but that's what I mean when I refer to it as a metaphysical entity.

> > The work itself (as contrasted with your copyright in the work) is
> > not your property. I don't see it as property at all, but to the
> > extent that anyone can do anything with it -- except as bounded by
> > the copyright -- if you want to consider it as property at all, it's
> > public property.
>
> I would say that the work is public property only in a metaphorical
> sense, as in "Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms belongs to the world."

I agree (assuming that work is in the PD -- I haven't verified). I don't think it's property at all. But if you can characterize it as property, it's not the author's property -- the only property interest the author has in it is in the copyright. If you can characterize it as property (a point on which I'm dubious), it is a property of the public at large, who is free to use it in any way it sees fit except for the limited property right in the copyright retained by the author.

--
Terry Carroll       | "Report of the Committee On Governmental Affairs,
Santa Clara, CA     | United States Senate, To Accompany S. 1364, An Act To
carroll[_at_]tjc.com     | Eliminate Unnecessary and Wasteful Federal Reports."
Modell delendus est |  - Title of U.S. Senate Report 105-187, May 11, 1998