[opendtv] Re: Wright Issues Call To Copyright Action
- From: Tom Barry <trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 14:56:20 -0400
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> I think the original legislation implementing copyright was the
> correct approach. 14 years to make your profits, and another 14, if
> the author is still living and there is a commercial interest worth
> protecting for another 14 years.
>
I would agree, except that to grant any extensions, a digital
non-encrypted copy should be required to be deposited for safe keeping
with the Library of Congress. We have the technology to keep all this
now and it would protect against copyright extension via DRM. The
escrowed copies would become publicly available for reasonable cost
after the copyright expired and they entered the public domain.
- Tom
> At 10:52 PM -0700 10/29/04, Mike Enright wrote:
>
>>By way of agreeing with you, I think you need to cast aside the habit of
>>thinking of intellectual property as something that moves into the
>>public domain someday. These rights belong to the public from the
>>beginning.
>
>
> Good point. The copyright period merely gives the copyright holder a
> period of time to realize a return on their creative investment. The
> act of applying for copyright is in fact an agreement to put the
> content into the public domain.
>
>
>>I think it would be interesting to work out the consequences of tying
>>the term of a copyright to the credited author's life, whether or not
>>the copyright is assigned. If the author dies at an untimely age, let
>>the monopoly expire early. Let authors build their legacies for their
>>heirs by exploiting their monopolies while alive and passing on an
>>estate built on the rents they collected.
>
>
> Unfortunately, copyright law has been Scorrupted to such a complete
> extent, that the credited author may not even hold the copyright. For
> authors. things are still pretty good:
>
> - Write a book, and you are protected, although only to the extent of
> the contract that you may have signed with a publisher.
>
> Write a song and you are in good shape - lyrics and musical
> compositions are well protected for the writer.
>
> Perform a song and you may be out of luck -current copyright law
> generally looks at performances as "works for hire." These length of
> copyright for these works is not coupled to the individual performer;
> in most cases the copyright is held by the record label that has the
> performer under contract. I think the terms is something like 70
> years now.
>
> Dittos for all of the content produced by Hollywood. Disney's
> Steamboat Willie (Micky Mouse, who was "cloned" from a popular movie
> in the '30s , is now protected for 70 years, and you can bet that
> Disney will be back trying to extend copyrights again when Mickey is
> threatened by the public domain...again.
>
> Originally, copyright law was very mush like what you want. An AUTHOR
> could be granted 14 years of protection (not a commercial entity or
> the family of the author). The author, if still living, could
> request another 14 year extension of that copyright, but a commercial
> entity or family of the author could not request such an extension.
> As I understand it, extensions were rarely asked for or granted, for
> the first 100 plus years after Congress enacted laws to enforce the
> copyright provisions in the Constitution. Now copyright can extend
> for as long as 70 years after the death of the author, and these
> extensions are routinely granted to corporations and family members
> with an "interest" in the authors original copyright.
>
>
>>I've also seen suggestions that renewal be required very frequently, so
>>that if someone can't be bothered to renew, it must indicate that the
>>commercial aspect has played out.
>
>
> I think the original legislation implementing copyright was the
> correct approach. 14 years to make your profits, and another 14, if
> the author is still living and there is a commercial interest worth
> protecting for another 14 years.
>
> Regards
> Craig
>
>
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