> Copyright do not protect physical hardware or goods. […] almost all copyrightable works can be transferred electronically
Don’t conflate “can be” with “are”. Copyrights absolutely protect books and posters and phonograph records; physical goods is how the law originated, and physical copies is a big part of what the law’s language still protects to this day. There are big problems with copyright law because it hasn’t yet been adequately adapted to the invention of the internet.
There is plenty of overlap when it comes to the business of physical goods. Copyrights do protect parts of the designs of many physical goods, and the sources and driver software of computer hardware, for example. Copyrights also protect marketing and advertising material and many other parts of a fledgling business.
What are we discussing at this point? I agree with you that copyright should probably end with the author (though I would say there should be a minimum term, to account for the many reasonable possible scenarios like being part of a business, accidental death, old age, etc., etc.). I don’t think 10 years is enough, and I don’t think that tech moving quickly is a valid reason to shorten copyright. There are valid reasons to shorten copyright, so we should discuss those instead.
Don’t conflate “can be” with “are”. Copyrights absolutely protect books and posters and phonograph records; physical goods is how the law originated, and physical copies is a big part of what the law’s language still protects to this day. There are big problems with copyright law because it hasn’t yet been adequately adapted to the invention of the internet.
There is plenty of overlap when it comes to the business of physical goods. Copyrights do protect parts of the designs of many physical goods, and the sources and driver software of computer hardware, for example. Copyrights also protect marketing and advertising material and many other parts of a fledgling business.
What are we discussing at this point? I agree with you that copyright should probably end with the author (though I would say there should be a minimum term, to account for the many reasonable possible scenarios like being part of a business, accidental death, old age, etc., etc.). I don’t think 10 years is enough, and I don’t think that tech moving quickly is a valid reason to shorten copyright. There are valid reasons to shorten copyright, so we should discuss those instead.