I’ve heard arguments for both sides and i think it’s more complicated then simply yes or no. what do you guys think?

  • Not as far as I know. The continental European copyright-equivalent preserves feudal ideas.

    Rulers granted monopolies to their cronies to allow them to extract money. These privileges were finally abandoned in the wake of the French Revolution. Ethical considerations aside, this was necessary to allow for industrialization/economic development. Except for “copyright”, which is democratized by automatically granting it to everyone, rather than being a special favor. The continental patent system works much like the US one, granting a “mere” 20 year monopoly. Copyright duration is tied to the death of the author, showing its nature as a personal privilege.

    Small wonder then that the US copyright industry has come to dominate. Unfortunately, it has leveraged this power for rent-seeking so that much of the harmful, European model was adopted in the US.

    You are right, though, that the European model has no regard for public benefit but is quite concerned with the “honor” of the creator.