The Congress shall have Power…To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
U.S. Constitution. Article I, Section 3 | Clause 8
While reading the US Constitution for my polisci class, I came across this mention of copyright. It’s interesting that even in the 18th century there was an understanding that copyright must be for a limited time, and clearly designed to benefit the creators of the work. Something worth thinking about, especially as the call for copyright reform extended to the White House:
Protect American Intellectual Property at Home: Update and reform our copyright and patent systems to promote civic discourse, innovation, and investment while ensuring that intellectual property owners are fairly treated.
2 responses to “Constitutional Copyright”
The amount of people suing for copyright infringement these days is pretty ridiculous. If anyone even looks at someone elses work they get sued.
Unfortunately, most of the time it isn’t actually people suing for the infringement, but entertainment industry cartels who make the majority of the money from the product.