Earlier quoted context omitted.
You speak of intentionality beyond the explicit reality of the data involved as some great irrationality in their statement, but we literally have a corresponding term for that. Spirit of the law. If the law were as black and white and ends-oriented as you're implying it is, we wouldn't need judges for the interpretation of it. The fact that they have prioritized the underlying authors affected over the traditional i…
I think you're missing the deeper point. Whether or not the Copyright Office intends to assert authorial essentialism, it's doing so in effect. And when metaphysical language about "creative essence" becomes encoded in policy and enforced by courts, it's not just metaphor. It's law. Calling it "spirit of the law" doesn't let them off the hook. If you enshrine a metaphysics that treats human-authored works as ontologi…
Ownership is a construct.
It's all made up.