2007-01-19 03:51:29 · 4 answers · asked by halfway 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
Copyrights protect the creative genius of an individual. Patents are based on inventions that would eventually be invented by someone anyway. You can't hold the patent forever on a mousetrap. Sooner or later someone is going to invent a better one anyway.
For instance, who everheard of copyrighting an airplane, or a helicopter, or an automobile? Patents would make sense for a little while. But you could copyright the Northrop Grumman Logo, or the AT&T Logo, and so on and so forth forever.
2007-01-19 12:27:17 · answer #1 · answered by SnowWebster2 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neither copyrights nor patents are an inherently good thing. They stifle competition, restrict progress and create potential monopolies. These are all bad things economically, and make everyone worse off.
However, without some protection people will not invest in research or spend time in creative endeavour.
So the length of protection is something of a social contract. Its a trade off between society and the patent/copyright holder.
Patents are relatively short because they should only need to protect an inventor while he/she exploits the invention to make a return. Book copyrights are the longest because authors will need to live off their work for all of their lives. Music etc are in between usually.
2007-01-19 13:25:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because Disney didn't want "Steamboat Willie" to fall into the public domain, and so lobbied Sonny Bono (yes, the singer) to extend copyrights to the current ridiculous level.
To the answerer above I say: a person should just write more.
2007-01-19 14:09:50 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because Disney doesn't have any patents
2007-01-19 12:05:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋