Re: (TFT) Who owns ideas?

["J. McGuire" <wtsoft@io.com>]

At 10:37 AM 7/16/98 -0600, you wrote:
>
>In principle, I agree with this.  Realistically speaking, however, this
>can turn into a complex issue very easily.  What if the creative person
>dies suddenly without leaving a will?  What if they were running a 
>business which depended upon their creations?  Suppose the creator had
>young children?  Does the fact that the creator died without a will mean
>that those children should be left without means.  One can get wrapped
>around the axle in a hurry with these topics.

What if they were running a business which depended on their ability to dig
ditches?

First of all, I've lost track of where wills came into this, except for my
comment that I intend to explicitly turn over all of my own copyrights to
the public domain in my own. Could you please clarify?

Second, why should writing be a business different from digging ditches or
any other line of work, when it comes to supporting the business owner's
children, if any?

Third, there's this thing called "life insurance" -- commonly purchased by
both writers and ditch diggers for just this eventuality.

Finally, my proposal -- if someone would PLEASE read what the heck I wrote
-- was that copyright terms could reasonably extend for fifty years from
the creation of the work, *OR* until the death of the creator, WHICHEVER IS
GREATER. All things considered, that would leave David Asimov plenty of
money to indulge his little hobby.


-- Jean

   Wintertree Software

http://www.wtsoft.com

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