General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Final Leaked TPP Text is All That We Feared [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)are more than a century old.
At some point, copyrighted material has to become just a part of our culture.
The original author of the publication is not alive any more. And the heirs did not create it.
The social purpose of copyrights and patents is to reward and encourage, that is to provide incentives for creativity and scientific research. To extend copyrights and patents so that the heirs of a patent or copyright who did not contribute to the creation or research of the copyrighted or patented work defeats the purpose of the special right that Congress can create under Article I, section 8.
If someone creates or discovers something and wants to possess it and never let it go to be openly shared and used without cost by the public, then they should hide it in their attic and in their heart.
I'm all for reasonable copyright and patent laws and their enforcement. But to extend them beyond what they are determined to be by the US Congress is wrong and will slow the course of history.
The important thing is that we should all try to respect reasonable patent and copyright laws in our use of creative products.
We need to understand why they exist if we are to do that.