Comment by shevy-java
13 hours ago
Everything should be in the public domain.
I am aware that this is not realistic, for many reasons, but just like Richard Stallman, or the right to repair movement (e. g. Louis Rossmann) being vocal about it, or scientists who will prefer to publish with open access rather than be subject to the greedy Elsevier paywall, after the public already paid for the research - we need to strive for ideals here. So, all must be in the public domain. I actually think it should be without delay; seems usually the waiting time before it gets into the public domain is ... 75 years? Or any number where I am definitely no longer alive. So that is bad.
Thus - public domain the everything. \o/
Author's life + 75 years (basically infinity) for works owned by individuals.
95 years for works owned by corporations (long enough to become lost and/or irrelevant).
I'd be happy if the original expression remains protected but abstractions are open to reuse. Right now a work blocks more than its specific expression, a whole space is forbidden around it, like fan fiction. In other words what is needed is freedom to build on top of existing works.
How is that a good ideal? As far as I know Stallman, not that he is objectively correct, does not claim all software should be in the public domain, he just has what amounts to a strong personal preference and advocacy. The idea that someone would not be able to protect a work that they toiled creating is pretty repugnant and while i will probably be massively downvoted, this i the view held by most reasonable people.
As someone married to another who has toiled her life away creating I totally agree.