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.
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.
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…