Andrew Lentvorski wrote:
Let people extend copyright on a sliding scale.
0- 20 years -- free and automatic
20- 40 years -- free, but requires registration
40- 60 years -- $X and requires registration
60- 80 years -- $2X and requires registration
80-100 years -- $4X and requires registration
etc.
If Disney wants to keep Mickey under copyright effectively forever
*fine*. Make them pay for the privilege.
That's the stupidest solution I've seen yet. It's functionally not that
different than the current system: if you want your copyright extended
beyond the period current law allows, then you just lobby Congress for
as long as needed until you get the law changed.
That type of influence takes large amounts of money. Large corporations,
which are essentially immortal, have relatively (to the rest of us)
unlimited resources and money, and more importantly, time. Like the
current system, yours also favors the richest copyright holders.
Once a corporation extends to the 80-year limit, it still has another 20
years to either raise the money, or get the law changed to change the
law and/or fee yet again. Have you been paying no attention to how the
current system is being corrupted by money? Your system will only
increase and exagerrate the current practice of promoting corporate
agendas through lobbying for favorable changes in the law.
Otherwise, stuff that is simply not immediately economically valuable
enough would fall out of copyright and become reusable.
-a
Or maybe I could just buy your copyright and _then_ pay to have it
extended in my favor. Eventually we have essentially the same situations
as we do now with patents: have no creativity of your own? Then just
substitute your money and buy someone else's and then hoard it forever.
My version would be this (or some minor variation):
1. Copyright lasts for the lifetime of the author with the
following exception.
A. Copyright can be inherited only by first generation
heirs (if any) of the author. That is, your kids can hold
your copyright, but not your grandkids.
2. Copyright cannot be created by, transferred to, or held
by a non-human entity (e.g. a corporation, government or
quasi-government organization, private trust, etc.)
3. All copyrights not meeting the above conditions fall into
the domain of public access and use but must still maintain
proper attribution of the original author ("You did not write
that, Samuel Clemens did").
--
Best Regards,
~DJA.
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