That's not how rent seeking works. Rent seeking requires exclusive access to a resource, i.e. an apartment in the original metaphor. Nothing prevents the author from monetizing it, too, and they get first-mover advantage and other legs up besides.
if I printed book XYZ that is written by someone else, I'm creating value by creating the copy and enabling people to read it. Would you consider companies that sell bottled water as rent seeking? (assuming that natural fresh water is abundant in that area and free for all)
> Assume that we address both of these problems: we create an empathetic system which never denies a human being of their fundamental right to live, and we eliminate copyright.
So basically you advise solving world hunger and resource scarcity as necessary to avoid the need for copyright. That is literally impossible, there will always be someone who wants more than they have, who feels what a socialism-based society believes is sufficient is really not, and who are we as a society to judge the perceived needs of each individual? No thanks, I’ll take capitalism any day.
