Yeah ideas don't exist except within our minds and cannot be punished for having them so of course when I say "idea" I mean "expression of an idea" in your language.
A novel exists. A song exists. A painting exists. These are expressions of an idea. They can be copyrightable.
If an element of one story is sufficiently similar to an element of another story somewhere in the world whether deliberately or by chance, opens the door for someone to pursue legal action. For example the cardassian Obsidian Order on Deep Space Nine was originally going to be called the "Gray Order" but once they learned that Babylon 5 was going to have a "Gray Council" they changed the name to "Obsidian Order".
A very good example of potential copyright infringement!
Yes that sounds like a problem for the author. But why should it be my problem?
You don't care about the author? You don't care if they have food to eat? I guess at most it's your problem because you like their art and at the very least because I assume you are a human being who cares about other people.
Hmm... a way to compensate the author... hmmm, like some sort of legal protection against theft? Like, say, a copyright?Maybe the government or some other entity could invent a way to compensate the author.
It's not my fault things can be copied easily or people get replaced by technology in the work place.
If you are choosing to steal work without compensating the artist, it's your fault.
Do you hold no value to your favorite writer? Your favorite musician?
Because something is easy to do, doesn't mean it's right to do.
Again: you're sounding like an entitled child who is content to steal because they don't think it's a big deal. "No one is getting hurt." When, in fact, you put people's livelihoods into jeopardy.
There are so many newsrooms in the US that are struggling because everyone demands their news for free. A ton of local newspapers around the country are failing because people don't want to pay subscriptions because they feel, I guess, reporters should work for free.