Comment Re:Silly me (Score 1) 419
That's not what I'm arguing for at all. In fact, I'm arguing for the opposite - that the market value of a work is a poor indicator as to whether the work is critically important or not. Indefinite copyright terms stifle the progress of the arts by not providing a larger pool to draw ideas and inspiration from.
There have been arguments that artists shouldn't be professionals - that first, they should make a living and then produce art, and further, that there should be minimal funding of the arts as they produce little of economic value. Many of the people that advance this argument also complain that there's not enough funding for basic science. They continue by saying basic science advances our fundamental understanding of the universe and that funding should be provided for basic science even if it does not produce much of economic value in the short term, and that basic science shouldn't be relegated to a part time endeavor by scientists who have to first make a living by doing more commercially viable research.
What I am saying is that art can have just as large of an impact of our understanding of the world - not in increasing our understanding of how the universe fundamentally works, but by increasing our understanding of the human condition. Art can be just as thought provoking as science. They're similar but not the same.
In my view, anybody complaining about the slashing of science and not the slashing of art is a short sighted hypocrite. Nobody should make a living for doing nothing. Nobody should be guaranteed their position at the table or guaranteed a living. Both the artist and the scientist should work hard, and we should be rewarding those that turn out the best critical work, even if that work is not economically profitable in the short term because not doing so relegates art and basic science to side projects.
Some art is both commercially and critically successful. Some basic science is commercially profitable and beneficial. But always tying profitability to success in art and science misses the times when unprofitable things are beneficial.