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Chapter 18: Q2. (page 711)

A computer programmer lobbies against copyrighting software, arguing that everyone should benefit from innovative programs written for personal computers and that exposure to a wide variety of computer programs will inspire young programmers to create even more innovative programs. Considering the marginal social benefits possibly gained by this proposal, do you agree with this position?

Short Answer

Expert verified

Agreed, as removal of copyrights will increase the marginal social benefit.

Step by step solution

01

Effect of removal of copyrights

The software developers demand copyrights to gain from their new creations as each customer has to pay for the software use. If there are no copyrights, free riders will download and use the software, and these developers won’t get paid for their creation. This discourages innovation. Thus, copyrights are demanded to protect the interest of the software developers and encourage more innovations.

The proposal suggests that access to such software enables learning, especially among young programmers. All people should get access to the software to provide an equal platform. Equal access to knowledge and other inventive tools would encourage further innovations (more than what happens with copyrights). Since there is no additional cost to provide such software to an additional user, the net marginal social benefit will only increase by removing copyrights.

Thus, with no marginal cost and increasing marginal social benefit, the software becomes a public good and, therefore, should not have copyrights.

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