Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
If a work isn't published, no-one can copy it, no matter what its copyright status. One has to have a copy of a work (or the original) before one can copy it, after all.
I add the 50 years from death of author clause to encourage publication of unpublished works.
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I agree with pdurrant that 50 years is right. The problem with this debate is that copyright is being applied to the new forms of media. What it takes to incentivize a company to invest 100,000,000 dollars to make a film and what it takes to incentivize a writer to publish a work that his friends and family enjoyed, are two different things, they should not be treated as if they are the same.
The last time copyright was agreed on by governments at a time in history when books and drawings were the only media that existed, 50 years was what they agreed was appropriate. The new media should be treated differently from books and drawings.