How far do you carry it out? Forever? Should Shakespeare be protected still?
The bible? And for the most part it is not individuals that hold these copyrights any longer, but large corporations. Should all artwork (van Gogh?) and music (Mozart) be protected? What about nursery rhymes and the poem "If". Do I need to pay royalties to recite it or sing to my nephew? What would become of our museums and libraries? As for the assumption that artists would want their art limited, and never again reproduced, that doesn't jive with what I know about artists. The vast majority I know constantly choose dissemination over profit. That is why we have a stereotype of "struggling artists". I've got a copy of a book written in the 1830s by a preacher in prison in Connecticut. Wrongly imprisoned if you believe his story. It is hand bound in leather, and only 100 were printed. I've got another that lists the free blacks who received pensions after the Revolutionary War. And a couple of hand written diaries from the 1700 and 1800s. I have since digitized these books along with dozens of others, and made them available to genealogist and historians. If the copyrights were still in place, I couldn't have done this without breaking the law. Yet this information is historically interesting, even vital. I would propose the opposite of your suggestion, that all work be placed into the public domain within a few years of the death of the artist, _unless_ the artist takes measures to protect that copyright. And that there be a limit on how long such a thing can be copyrighted. 50 years, 75 years, 200 years. But the rules should not be changed when it is in the financial interest of large, powerful corporations who can buy the votes to get things to favor them. Instead, the copyrights should match what the law was AT THE TIME OF CREATION. Change the rules at any time, but it only holds for creation after that date. And I don't really care too much about all this, I just think people should consider what might get lost (freedom?) if we let DRM become the end-all of everything produced ever. Jerry Johnson >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 01/15/03 10:51AM >>> Ok, since we _cant_ ask them how they feel, it seems only right to assume they want their content protected. That is the only safe assumption. If you find a wallet on the street and the owner isn't around, do you assume the owner wants you to keep the wallet? -rc > -----Original Message----- > From: Jerry Johnson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 9:46 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: RE: 20 more years of copyrights > > > If you can find a single content producer that is alive, we > can ask them how they feel. > > The only way you can ask content producers is to hold a seance. > > The content we are talking about was protected for 75 years, > now for 95 years, IIRC. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
