Re:European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batt...
by SoftTalker on Friday June 16, 2023 @11:24PM
(#36366945)
Yes natural rights are those the constitution recognizes as coming from a Creator and those shall not be infringed.
Copyright and patent are not among those. The Constitution provides that congress can grant "for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries"
"Limited times" could be defined by congress to "expire" under whatever circumstances they choose.
There is a recent movement trying to redefine them as such, led by moneyed interests that would obviously stand to profit from such arguments; but legal history is very clear: IP was never conceived on the grounds of being "natural" or "innate" in any way, but as a device to sustain certain economic sectors. IP is no more natural than subsidies for carmakers are natural.