this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2024
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That’s the only reason copyright exists. Because society decided that if you’re the one to put work into developing something, you should be the one reaping the profits, at least for some time.
No, that's a lie. Copyright exists solely for the purpose "to promote the progress of science and the useful arts" -- i.e., to enrich the Public Domain in the long run. Enabling creators to profit is nothing more than a means to that end.
Correct answer! And they were originally granted for, what, 7 years with possibly to extend to 14?
Society in general has not granted this, it was corrupt lawmakers. Notice the distinction of maximizing profits, no one says no profits should be had at all. But I'm pretty sure most of the people don't want companies to literally hold back progress of a whole field, of humanity in general just so their profits can be maximized. It's only the ones directly benefitting from this that would want this, or if you're brainwashed by those parties, otherwise you're just against your own best interests (and of the rest of humanity) which is irrational.
Actually quite a few of us do say that
No, it's really not the reason copyright exists. Granting a profit to authors and artists is just a means to an end. The actual purpose is to enrich the public domain. Or "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts", as the US Constitution puts it.
You could argue corporate lobbying has molded copyright for profit's sake (e.g. we can thank Disney for copyright lasting an unreasonably long time) but that's not all copyright does. Copyleft is a hack of copyright that lets people use software/media created by another but legally compels you to share it under the same license - meaning a greedy corporation can't just take your work and not share back.