Copyright or wrong?
A “copyright” provides a company or person the exclusive right to recreate, license, or use a literary, musical, or other artistic work as seen fit. In today’s world, things like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Burger King, and Disney all have copyrights on their products, logos, and everything that falls in between. Thanks to the ever-present and widespread product placement and advertising used by companies all over the world, most of what we see and encounter each day is copyright-protected and forbidden for the public to use except in special occasions, called “Fair Use” laws. Though perhaps a small light for those opposed to the copyright laws, the options one has when using a copyright are very limited and constricting.
But even more interesting is the amount of time that a copyright lasts. The duration during which something is copyrighted is however long the original author lives plus 70 more years on top of that. At first glance, such a huge number of years seems very excessive, and one would think that it seriously hinders what the public can contribute by using the products for decades, or even centuries.
However, I personally feel like copyrights are a good thing, especially if I manage to come up with a great idea in the future and want my work to be protected under law. In all honesty, how many of those living in the world today would even want to use those things that are under copyright for anything beyond fair use? I would venture to say that most wouldn’t and thus aren’t effected either way by the length.
Even so, a lifetime is a very long time for something to be protected under law before it descends into the public domain, and for it to continue on lasting 70 years after the creator has died seems unnecessary, especially when those family members left behind still have a lifetime’s-worth of cash to inherit, it just makes those extra 70 years look totally ridiculous. If anything, we should reduce the duration of a copyright from the overkill figure of a lifetime and 70 years to simply while the author still lives. I feel a copyright is something beneficial in the end, but the public domain does deserve to receive those ideas and products after the original creator dies. It would be like your recently deceased grandmother’s dinner table still being in her ‘possession’ 70 years after she has moved on from this world. There’s no question that it is certainly hers while she lives, but there’s no reason it should stay “hers” after she has passed away.
