At the moment, the terms of trade favour publishers too much. A return to the 28-year copyrights of the Statute of Anne would be in many ways arbitrary, but not unreasonable. If there is a case for longer terms, they should be on a renewal basis, so that content is not locked up automatically. The value society places on creativity means that fair use needs to be expanded and inadvertent infringement should be minimally penalised. None of this should get in the way of the enforcement of copyright, which remains a vital tool in the encouragement of learning. But tools are not ends in themselves.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Economist: Shorten the Copyright
The Economist:
1 comments:
this is a republican issue - the extension in 1998 was carried with a republican majority, thought there were enough democrats that they pulled off a voice vote so nobody had to put their name on the bill.
Hopefully this time something can actually be done. Watch out in Europe - they extended their copyrights first, they'll expire sooner and we can preview what our fight will be like.
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