Doing readers a favor by abolishing copyright law

Assignment Help Business Economics

Reference no: EM131112475

Under U.S. copyright law, authors have the exclusive right to their writings during their lifetimes – unless they sell this right, as most authors do to their publishers – and their heirs retain this exclusive right for 70 years after their death. The historian Thomas Macaulay once described the copyright law as a “tax on readers to give a bounty to authors.” In what sense does the existence of the copyright law impose a tax on the readers? What “bounty” do copyright laws give authors? Discuss whether the government would be doing readers a favor by abolishing copyright law.

Reference no: EM131112475

Questions Cloud

When the fed adds new reserves to the system : When the Fed adds new reserves to the system, some of these new reserves find their way out of the country into foreign banks or foreign investment funds. In addition, some portion of these new reserves ends up in people's pockets and mattresses inst..

The reason the aggregate demand curve : Explain whether you agree or disagree with the following statement: "The reason the aggregate demand curve is downward sloping is that when the price level is higher, people can't afford to buy as many goods and services."

Find the optimal ratio of capital to labor inputs : A perfectly competitive rm produces output q with capital K and labor L according to the production function: q = f(K; L) = 4K 1 4L 1 4 The price of labor is w = 4, and the price of capital is r = 4. Prove that this production function has decreasing..

Social welfare when de beers acts as perfect competitor : The total cost (TCZ) of the De Beers Company (a monopolist) is given by TCZ = 100 + 50QZ + 0.5Q2Z where QZ is the number of diamonds produced and put on the market by the De Beers Company. What is social welfare when De Beers acts as a perfect compet..

Doing readers a favor by abolishing copyright law : Under U.S. copyright law, authors have the exclusive right to their writings during their lifetimes – unless they sell this right, as most authors do to their publishers – and their heirs retain this exclusive right for 70 years after their death. Di..

Calculate the economic production quantity : An aircraft manufacturer uses 1,000,000 special rivets per year at a uniform rate. The rivets are made on a single-spindle automatic screw machine at the rate of 3,000 per hour. Calculate the economic production quantity and the allow-able variation ..

Change in the saving rate and therefore the growth rate : Assume that a country is growing at 5% per year. Now the saving rate decreases leadingto a new lower growth rate of 3.3% per year. How will the change in standard of living over time be impacted by this change in the saving rate and therefore the gro..

Economic activity on both a domestic and global scale : How do government policies and/or regulations factor into changes in economic activity on both a domestic and global scale? Give a specific example of a policy or regulation that has helped economic activity.

What happens to capital per worker and output per worker : What happens to capital per worker and output per worker if machines begin depreciating at a faster rate than they once did? Use a graph to help you discuss your answer. Describe what will happen to growth in the short-run and the long-run

User Account

All Pages