MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What If the Copyright Act of 1909 Was Still Law?

Kali Yuga · 01-03-2011, 04:44 PM

I may be wrong, but iirc copyright in 1909 required that the copyright holder fill out forms and pay fees in order to receive protection.

Now, copyright is applied automatically the instant a work is in a fixed form. Although copyright terms may be a bit too long today, this is a huge boon to anyone who does creative work. For example a photographer may knock out hundreds of images in a shoot, and his work is instantly protected.

I seriously doubt copyright will be indefinitely extended. The US Constitution is quite clear that copyright has a limited term, and life + 70 is among the longer terms. I can't imagine they will give a blanket coverage for life + 90 or life +100, followed by life + 120, followed by.... That's far too cynical a position to hold.

01-03-2011, 04:44 PM	#8
Kali Yuga Professional Contrarian Posts: 2,045 Karma: 3289631 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 4 No Touchie	I may be wrong, but iirc copyright in 1909 required that the copyright holder fill out forms and pay fees in order to receive protection. Now, copyright is applied automatically the instant a work is in a fixed form. Although copyright terms may be a bit too long today, this is a huge boon to anyone who does creative work. For example a photographer may knock out hundreds of images in a shoot, and his work is instantly protected. I seriously doubt copyright will be indefinitely extended. The US Constitution is quite clear that copyright has a limited term, and life + 70 is among the longer terms. I can't imagine they will give a blanket coverage for life + 90 or life +100, followed by life + 120, followed by.... That's far too cynical a position to hold.