That's not the point; once released, why should people not be allowed to freely copy and share it? Why do you think you get to control what other people do with information?
Ug.. it's pointless to state how things currently work in a meta discussion about whether the current method makes sense.
I'm asking you to justify copyright, not explain it. I repeat, why do you think you should get to control what other people do with information?
> I don't think I get to control what other people do with information, but you should have the right to control what others do with your work.
And I say you shouldn't, so justify your belief. You should be able to control yourself, that's it; not the products of your labor when copied. Information is not property, you don't have less of it if I copy it and you should have no say over me copying it regardless of who produced it.
The interesting thing is that the same argument can in fact be made for property. How can you claim to own something at all? It's related to labor, having spent x amount of time working to buy something.
You're still assuming a world where copyright exists. Are you unable to think outside of those bounds? Do you not see that perhaps you wouldn't even attempt to do this in a world without copyright because you'd know up front you can't make money selling it?
> The interesting thing is that the same argument can in fact be made for property.
No it can't. Property is physical, if I steal your car, you no longer have it. If I copy your novel, you don't even know it happened. Physical property and intellectual property aren't at all the same.
> It's related to labor, having spent x amount of time working to buy something.
No, it really isn't.
Physical property is not different, your argument is: "it is" (in italic). But just to show you that a similar argument can be made that includes physical property I leave this Rousseau quote here.
"The first man who had fenced in a piece of land, said "This is mine," and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody"
OK, if you're just going to be ignorant, goodbye.