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Originally Posted by rogue_librarian
It's still "limited", of course.
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To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
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I disagree. In regards to the lifetime of the author it is unlimited. If someone writes something and publishes it when they are 20 years old and they live to be 110 then the copyright lasts for 160 years. With regards to the author he has no limits within his lifetime. I'm not saying copyright should expire when someone dies, but why isn't copyright the same time-frame as a patent? It used to be 14 years with a 14 year renewal. To me this seemed very reasonable. Here's the history below
- Copyright Act of 1790 - established U.S. copyright with term of 14 years with 14-year renewal
- Copyright Act of 1831 - extended the term to 28 years with 14-year renewal
- Copyright Act of 1909 - extended term to 28 years with 28-year renewal
- Copyright Act of 1976 - extended term to either 75 years or life of author plus 50 years; extended federal copyright to unpublished works; preempted state copyright laws; codified much copyright doctrine that had originated in case law
- Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 - removed the requirement for renewal
- Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) of 1994 - restored U.S. copyright for certain foreign works
- Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 - extended terms to 95/120 years or life plus 70 years
Etienne66