Quote:
Originally Posted by eschwartz
I don't actually see a strong case for it continuing past the author's death.
Although I see a strong case for it continuing past the author's death in the specific case where the author did not live very long.
EDIT: "live very long" as in after writing the book -- general statistics on longevity in professional writers aren't very meaningful or interesting.
So although by rights we should really go back to 14 years with a renewal option for an additional 14 years (total 28) and on a strict opt-in basis (!!!) ... I will be generous and vote for automatic copyright, at life or 50 whichever is longer.
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A majority of works earn most of what they will earn within the first year or two of a release. Ebooks change that dynamic a little bit, but not much. Some authors generate a nice cash flow from their backlist books, but not many. For the most part, copyright law is driven by large corporations such as Disney and big name authors (note, the Berne Convention was driven by Victor Hugo). In general, I think that we as a society would be better served using a two tier approach, one tier for the big money makers and one tier for the other 95% of books (or whatever the actual split is).