Note the phrase "for limited times". This does not mean "unto the heat death of the universe".
Congrats! You are the winner of the 'Pliny-The-Elder' award for the most arcane reference on tonites forum, B-A!
As soon as we get it painted, (ran out of argent again, dammit) we'll mail it to your last known address................FRegards
Provided they were not on someone's payroll when they invented, wrote, or discovered whatever. Then they just get wages.
When I am done working a well, (wellsite geologist), I write a report, have logs of the wellbore I have generated, and these are reproduced for my client. The state invariably gets a copy, the report is then a 'public' document, coppied by others and SOLD by them for a profit. I get squat beyond my initial compensation. Were there to be a copyright case, my employer would have first claim, not me.
Reality is that authors and discoverers usually end up sucking hind teat.
I do not begrudge these people their intellectual property rights, but with a 1 and a 4 year-old in my house, I'd sure like to copy the CD's and DVD's so the copy could get trashed if they get their grubbies on it and not the copy I paid for.
Otherwise, I'll take my chances at pawn shops and yard sales. It is a lot cheaper.`