Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
Here are the Association of American Publishers legislative goals:
http://publishers.org/priorities-positions
Maybe I missed it, but I don't see anything about term extension. I think they are a lot more concerned about piracy than loss of any still-profitable titles they released in 1923, or even 1933.
Two of the big five publishers are headquartered in countries (France and Germany) where agency pricing is the law. I realize that the political power of Hachette and Bertelsmann isn't the only reason book discounting is illegal in those countries. But it still is worth noting that Hachette and Bertelsmann have public domain days every year in their home markets.
What books do people think they are hoping to keep out of the public domain?
My guess is that the biggest cash cow coming up in the next decade is The Great Gatsby (Simon & Schuster), as it is commonly required reading in schools and colleges. That one's due to go into US public domain on January 1, 2021.
The next big one I can think of is Gone with the Wind (Macmillan), which goes into US public domain in 2037.
What other titles do folks here consider it worth publishers pouring money into K Street lobby shops for?
I suppose there is some risk that there will be an extension pushed by the motion picture industry, and the publishers get the benefit of it without having chipped in much for the lobbying effort. If I was writing about this to my congressperson (would make more sense if he wasn't currently under indictment), I'd tell him to support economic health for the film industry, but lay off books.
By the way, Mickey is trademarked. Trademark doesn't expire. Snow White, which I think is the earliest valuable Disney property that doesn't have the trademark angle, goes US public domain in 2038. |
Steve, the intersection between copyright expiration and trademark is an area that is not well defined. In Mickey's case, you can't use the trademark - as a trademark - without Disney's permission. But a film going into the public domain would be using the trademark as Disney had intended for that movie. <Shrug> No statutory law, and no case law (that I'm aware of).
Copyright extension has always been pushed by the MPAA. Remember Jack Valenti? Books were collateral damage.
To me, the proof in the pudding was the 1998 extension. Nothing under the 1978 shift to Life + 50 was being threatened. None would go PD until 2028, 30 years after the law was passed. The <only> reason for the extension was to keep anything further from going into the Public Domain. There was nothing in 1922 to worry about in the book world. or 1923, or 1924...
So what would have changed in the mindsets of the people who went to great lobbying effort to keep the copyright from starting to go into the Public Domain? Elucidate, please.