What are some drawbacks of copyright?

Answer 1

The most obvious pro to IPR is protecting your product from imitations. Creating new products is a costly business (Time and money-wise) and no firm would invest in R&D if there wasn't something in it for them in the long run.

Another pro is the fact that when somebody comes up with a new product or idea they rush to get it patented. Thus creating a document. In the past people have stayed quite secretive about these things because they did not want to have their idea or product stolen by somebody else.

A quite noticeable con to IPR is that the creator is provided with legal support to holding a monopoly over his product/idea. In the long run this means that firms holding these patents can charge you whatever they want because there is nobody out there who can provide the same service/product.

Another con is that copyright laws usually benefit large firms and not small individuals. Patents are bought by large companies and then extended indefinitely, leaving almost nothing behind for the public domain.

I hope this helps!

Answer 2

Frequent term extensions mean nothing has entered the public domain in the US for many years.

Sharing and discovery are hampered to the point of being illegal in many cases.

Lack of provisions for orphan works prevent libraries and archives from preserving materials, especially film.

It is written vaguely in an attempt to be flexible, and fails.

It does not adapt quickly enough to new technology.

Answer 3

Copyright laws allow creators to ascribe value to (and derive an income from) their intellectual property and the work that went into it; the intent of the law is to encourage creativity.

The drawback of this is it stops people from building on others' works for fear of being accused of infringement: if you write a program and I know a way to make it smaller, faster, and more fun at parties, I can't make those changes without your permission.

It is notable that software design is one discipline in which broad licenses are commonly used, because the spirit of sharing is often valued more than IP rights.

Answer 4

Intellectual property laws in general were intended to encourage creativity by allowing creators to monetize the results of their hard work.

A drawback would be that you can't improve on existing work without permission from the rightsholder, and that rightsholder may be difficult or impossible to identify or locate.

Answer 5

In the short term, copyright laws prevent people from using protected materials without the copyright holder's permission. That means I can't post mp3s of my favorite bands, sell a t-shirt with a comic book character on it, or write a song using someone else's lyrics.

But in the long term, this support of artists and their rights means they get more incentive and freedom to create. Maybe that band I love will make enough money from legal, paid downloads to quit their day jobs, write some more songs, and go on tour. Or allowing the comic book artist to be the only person selling or licensing t-shirts might bring in enough income to let him self-publish a book.

Overall, copyright law creates rights and responsibilities for both the creator and the users, and while it might not always seem to be fairly balanced, it's still pretty reasonable in the long run.

Answer 6

Without copyright protection there would be little or no incentive to publish, and to create written works and photographs, etc.

Answer 7

Copyright laws limit the dissemination of information, sometimes against the public good.

Answer 8

There are no cons of copyright laws.