If we believe (as did our Constitutional founders) that the purpose of copyright is to provide a sufficient incentive for the creation of works that would then enter the public domain at the earliest possible moment — because that’s how works have lasting value — then why can’t we figure out the proper length of copyright with a little science?

What is the curve of sales for most books? How many years do books sell more than a handful of copies? Where are most the authorss reward and compensation coming from with regard to sales? How much of our culture do we have to sacrifice in order to support the 0.0001% of authors whose book sell anything worth a damn after ten years?

Of course, I made up that 0.0001% figure for rhetorical purposes, but getting the actual figure is exactly what I’m asking for. Is this info available somewhere?

Categories: copyright, culture dw