Copyright inevitably pits the demands of authors and publishers to control
and charge for uses of their works against the demands of consumers and
users of these works for maximum access to the works at minimal or no cost.
Indeed, the basic rationale for copyright is that the benefit derived from an
essentially monopolistic set of legal rights, which provide the necessary
economic incentive for the creation and dissemination of aesthetic and
intellectual works, outweighs the added costs that the copyright monopoly
imposes on the public. The benefit to the public is the plentiful supply and
widespread distribution of aesthetic and intellectual works. The added costs
to the public take two forms, the added expense for copies or rights to use the
copyrighted work whose price is set by the copyright owner without any fear
of legitimate competition, and the restrictions on using the prior work to
create further works. As the elements of copyright that affect the balance
change, so too will the costs and benefits of the copyright system