Quote:
Originally Posted by stonetools
You'll get no argument from me here. I find it absurd that works written prior to 1940 aren't in the public domain. Sign me up for a campaign to limit copyright terms to 70 years or 20 years after the death of the author, whichever comes later.
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and Music...and movies/video....?
Stonetools, ask yourself the following questions. Why is copyright so long? Who benefits from it? As Oliver Stone said in one of his movies - "Follow the money."
Copyright extensions in the last 40 years haven't been for the benefit of the creators, it's been for the benefit of the middlemen.
Don't take my word for it,
reseach it for yourself. See who gets most of the money! See who uses it to lobby Congress for extensions. See who lobbied for the DCMA. And the recent ACTA.
Disney isn't going to let
anything of theirs pass into the public domain. They have and will spend as much money as it takes to prevent it. They don't give a hoot about the "collateral damage" to society. (In terms of "Orphan Works", contempt of copyright building up, ect.)
You sneered at me for being "just an amateur" compared to the Big 6 Publishers who had "more knowledge" than I did. Go ask them why they don't lobby for shorter copyright laws? For the original Berne Life + 50? For having the Berne Convention completely implemented, which means
getting rid of the post 1922 grandfathering that seems to be going to be extended forever.
Once you get those answers, (good luck),
then evaluate the need for DRM.
When I see a return to pre-Berne copyright in the US,
then I'll back your DRM needs. Not because I believe in them, but because it'd be a fair deal. 56 years and it's PD. But I expect I'll see a functioning FTL drive before I see copyright shortened...