> How far do you carry it out? Forever?

Why not? If it's my choice to keep my poetry private forever, then so be
it.

> Should Shakespeare be protected still?

If that is what he wanted.

> The bible?

If that is what He wanted. (grin)

> And for the most part it is not individuals that hold these 
> copyrights any longer, but large corporations.

Um - so what? If I give the rights to my poem to a corp, then the corp
owns the poem. In this case, the corp might as well be the author, and I
think the corp deserves the EXACT same protection.

> Should all artwork (van Gogh?) and music (Mozart) be 

Again - if they didn't want to share, it's their choice, not yours. Yes,
the world is a better place because of them - but we don't force people
to improve the world - we just hope they do.

> 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".

Yes, most artists do want to share - but not all - and when it comes to
making assumptions, it's only fair to make the assumption that is most
protective of the artist.

> 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.

Cool! 

> 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.

Current US law says you have that right. 

> 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 I disagree. :)

> 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.

Oh now, come on. How is freedom lost by me not being able to copy Mickey
Mouse?

Ray

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