[TeMPOraL]

> Let’s say I make a painting and put it in the drawer, never to be seen again. Do I lose the copyright then and someone is permitted to come to my home and take it away?

If you paint something, show to a few people, then decide to put it in the drawer, nobody cares. However, if you displayed that painting in galleries for the past 20 years, became semi-famous for it, and then decide to destroy your work, I'd say the public has a stake and a right to say "no", to at least make and preserve some copies. On top it being an asshole move to destroy well-known work, even if you have the right to do it.

> And copyright is not forever.

It effectively is if you destroy the work before your copyright on it expires.

[nutrie]

Copyright laws don’t care that nobody cares. This is a misconception of the concept.

[majewsky]

This discussion is obviously about what the law should be rather than what it is.