The key problem is that copyright infringement by a private individual is regarded by the court as something so serious that it negates the right to privacy. It’s a sign of the twisted values that copyright has succeeded on imposing on many legal systems. It equates the mere copying of a digital file with serious crimes that merit a prison sentence, an evident absurdity.
This is a good example of how copyright’s continuing obsession with ownership and control of digital material is warping the entire legal system in the EU. What was supposed to be simply a fair way of rewarding creators has resulted in a monstrous system of routine government surveillance carried out on hundreds of millions of innocent people just in case they copy a digital file.
Like, maybe tiered to something like 5 years: pay what it costs now, 10 years: 10 times that cost, and 15 years: 100 times, with a hard cap at 15? I could get behind that.
It doesn’t cost anything to copyright something. You just automatically own the copyright to something you create.
(This may vary outside the US; I’m not familiar with international copyright law.)
I thought there was a registration fee for copyright, but I think I mixed it up with trademark…
Yeah. Something like that. Maybe don’t even need a cap.
If you pay $2^n each year n to retain copyright then by year 30 you are into the billions.