Project:The copyright status of Wittgenstein’s works: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Wittgenstein's testament.jpg|thumb|right|Wittgenstein's testament. “I give to Mr. R. Rhees Miss G.E.M. Anscombe and Professor G.H. von Wright of Trinity College Cambridge All the copyright in all my unpublished writings and also the manuscripts and typescripts thereof to dispose of as they think best but subject to any claim by anybody else to the custody of the manuscripts and typescripts. I intend and desire that Mr. Rhees Miss Anscombe and Professor von Wright shall publish as many of my unpublished writings as they think fit but I do not wish them to incur expenses in publication which they do not expect to recoup out of royalties or other profits.”]]
[[File:Wittgenstein's testament.jpg|thumb|right|Wittgenstein's testament. “I give to Mr. R. Rhees Miss G.E.M. Anscombe and Professor G.H. von Wright of Trinity College Cambridge All the copyright in all my unpublished writings and also the manuscripts and typescripts thereof to dispose of as they think best but subject to any claim by anybody else to the custody of the manuscripts and typescripts. I intend and desire that Mr. Rhees Miss Anscombe and Professor von Wright shall publish as many of my unpublished writings as they think fit but I do not wish them to incur expenses in publication which they do not expect to recoup out of royalties or other profits.”]]


The logic of copyright and of its term being limited by design, thus, is as follows. Authors should be able to exploit their works financially (in order perhaps, depending on one’s broader moral view, to reward their genius, but also to enable them to keep doing what they do while letting others benefit from their creativity as well). Sooner or later, however, the circulation of such works should stop being subject to the author’s consent or their family’s (in order for the public to fully enjoy the works without limitations, and especially without having to pay to do so).
The logic of copyright and of its term being limited by design, thus, is as follows. Authors should be able to exploit their works financially (depending on one’s broader moral view, this may be, perhaps, so as to reward their genius, but also to enable them to keep doing what they do while letting others benefit from their creativity as well). Additionally, authors should be able to control what can or cannot be done with their works from points of view unrelated to the financial one (which can be important when it comes to new editions or translations of a book, remixes of a sound recording, reproductions of a picture, etc., in assessing the quality of which authors are entitled to the last word).<ref>The role of authors and their heirs in ensuring the quality of reproductions and remixes of the works that are their intellectual property had been overlooked in an early version of this essay. Its author is grateful to Dr Nicolas Bell of Trinity College for pointing this out.</ref> Sooner or later, however, the circulation of such works should stop being subject to the author’s consent or their family’s (in order for the public to fully enjoy the works without limitations, and especially without having to pay to do so).


In other words, the “spirit” of copyright laws is that:
In other words, the “spirit” of copyright laws is that: