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Originally Posted by Lemurion
I agree - I'm afraid the 20th century will go down as the century that saw the death of the Public Domain.
I'm beginning to think the current emphasis on ever-increasing copyright extensions might become a driving force for piracy. The current idiocy of Life+50 and Life+70 means that for most adults the books they enjoyed in their youth will not enter the Public Domain in their lifetime. Add in the EU's recent extension on music copyrights and it becomes clear we're in a second Tragedy of the Commons where nothing of any continuing popularity will likely ever enter the Public Domain again.
Everyone is losing except the content companies.
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Oddly enough, I'm not as pessimistic about further extension of copyright. Look over the last few years. Say 2006 +. Virtually every effort to extend some aspect of copyright had failed. And it has failed because the public has become more aware of the problems of copyright. The Sony Bono (Mickey Mouse Preservation) Act was passed in a public vacuum. Same for the 1976 copyright revisions. If somebody were to put in an extension into legislation today, you'd have people writing their representatives and complaining all over the place. Look at the efforts shot down in the various places in the EU...