I’m so sorry. The whole argument is idiotic. If we can own homes, land and stock shares for life AND we can leave them to our heirs, I cannot understand, for the life of me, why anyone thinks we should rob creators (and their heirs). Why this difference between physical and IP?

— beatrice (@BeaLawson27) March 5, 2021

It is shocking that people who can read and write can still be this stupid. Really, it is.

“What is the difference between physical and IP?” Is that some sort of joke? Ok, I know it is not, but lord I sure wish it was. There are literally whole bodies of scholarship delineating the differences between real property and intellectual property. Like, that is a whole enormous area of inquiry. Here is a good, fairly short start, but of course no one like the doofus above will read something that difficult.

That aside, here is Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the US Constituition:

“To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries….”

Notice some keywords there: “limited” and “authors.” Not “heirs.” Not “in perpetuity.” Nothing about “forever” or leaving those rights to anyone. Not a word about any of that. In fact, the Copyright Act of 1790 established copyright for all works with a term of 14 years with 14-year renewal. A little too long but arguably good enough.

So many people are just terrifyingly clueless, and with shocking certitude in their utter gormless ninnery.