Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
What I dislike most about current copyright laws is the "lifetime + fixed term" aspect of them. It seems very odd that an author's earliest (and usually weakest) work should have the longest copyright.
I'd much rather see a "fixed term, or lifetime, whichever is longer", where the fixed term is 50 years or less.
Sadly, I don't see any way that that could be brought about with the current system of international agreements.
And there isn't even a poll option that's anywhere near my position.  |
I like the lifetime + X approach. Lifetime because the author who created the work should have control of it in the author's lifetime, especially for purposes of extending series or writing sequels. "Plus X" so that whoever buys the rights isn't risking that they become public domain if the author is hit by a car next week.
And lifetime+X doesn't just benefit the author's heirs; by making the copyright more valuable, it directly benefits the author.
And the meme that lifetime+70 was due to Disney needs to die; the primary reason for this period was to bring it in line with European copyright law, which was already lifetime+70.
Which does seem like a long time; I'd be happier with that time period if there were an accelerated method for abandoned works to enter the PD. But I really don't think that our culture is being harmed because Mickey Mouse isn't in the PD.