Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
I agree, but most of the people who argue about copyright seem content with the idea of Life + whatever. I would like to see the public domain be something useful to the current generation's grandchildren... so if you loved a book or song or movie in your childhood, your grandchildren would have free access to it, with no limitations on how they can use it. This 70-to-130-years garbage just means "everything except the mega-cash-cows fades into obsolescence and obscurity before anyone else gets to play with it."
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What I would like to see is for copyright to last for some limited time after the death of the creator--say 25 years. After that, it would need to be renewed for another 25 years; say four renewals would be allowed, for a maximum of 125 years after the creator's death. A grace period would be allowed at each renewal period.
This sort of scheme would allow works that are still commercially viable to continue to make money for the family and the estate, as long as they renew. If they don't renew, the work goes into public domain.
I think this is a compromise among competing interests. House of Mouse gets to keep its copyrights, but lots more works will fall into public domain more quickly.