copyrights should last twenty years

Some abstract reasoning on the subject of copyrights...

Patents typically last around twenty years. I think copyrights should as well. Even a genius needs inspiration and infrastructure. Society provides this. In addition, copyrighted works (such as books and movies) quickly look old fashioned. This is proof that their quality relies heavily on the society of a particular time. So society has created much of that wealth, and therefore owns that part. Both artist and society help to cause a creation, so both own it in part. It's a simple question of ownership. If you extend a copyright much beyond 20 years, many of the adults who who helped create the society will be dead. They will be denied the profit from their creation.

Please note that ending copyright does not end a creator’s profits. A 20 year copyright gives time for a creator to create a reputation, and they can use that reputation to make derivative products. And please also note that the present infinite copyright law (where big business can extend copyright forever) results in the destruction of irreplaceable work.

I was going to add a ton of notes about the details, but I like short blogs. So I'll simply say "if it's good enough for patents, on which businesses and lives depend, then it's good enough for copyright."