Quote:
Originally Posted by bill_mchale
No, its nothing like the current system. In the current system having different entities holding different rights is negotiated. If I write a novel, I can grant all or some of the rights to a publisher. Further at the end of any contract period, the rights will revert to me. It is like the fact that with the current life +70 copyright period that you often times have multiple parties holding a share of the copyright, some of whom might prove impossible to find or might hold up publication despite the desires of the majority of rights holders.
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Bill
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It doesn't matter when it happens (during or after the author's life), it's up to the rights holders to negotiate the terms. If ownership gets fragmented over time and it becomes financially unfeasible to track down and bring the parties together, then too bad.
Society does not have a right to any work of art due to a passage of time. It's up to the rights holders to make that determination.