Do we need copyright? (2012)
I don't see how you can possibly say that the exclusive right to sell a work doesn't have monetary value, AKA benefit for whoever holds it.I give my stuff away for free online, but I don't want O'Reilly or whomever selling it for money. (I sell print copies for money.) I have no mechanism to stop that other than copyright law.I do think the copyright term should be a maximum of 20 years from the publishing date, though (which would put some earlier versions of my works into the public domain).About the only useful thing copyright does anymore is protect the little guy, contrary to this argument. I am one of those little guys!I can't tell if the author has written any books, but I'd be happy to put them up for sale on Amazon if he does, assuming he has no problem with me pocketing the proceeds.