Quote:
Originally Posted by CyGuy
I personally don't think "lifetime" should play into the equation at all. One person might live 70 years after they publish, another person could die the day after they publish. This is way to variable. It should just be a standard length of time, no more than 10 years in my opinion...
|
Personally, I'd like to see a renewal process, so that every 10 or 15 years, or however long, the copyright owner has to go and renew the copyright, and if they fail to do so, it drops off into the public domain early. The lifetime is basically a period in which it cannot exceed. So, if it is renewed every 15 years, and they renew it the day before they die, someone else cannot come along and just keep renewing it indefinitely. It
One reason I want a renewal process, is that it helps sort out orphaned works, as well as help with a way to find the copyright owner to contact them, since theoretically a relatively up to date contact address should be on file for the copyright.