On Saturday 11 November 2006 23:37, Anders Johansson wrote: > On Sunday 12 November 2006 05:13, Doug McGarrett wrote: > > You should be happy that software is patented, rather than copyrighted. > > Patents expire within a long but reasonable(?) time; copyrights don't > > expire for almost 200 years. No-one living will ever see a copyright > > expire, even if it was granted to Mickey Mouse movies of the 1920's. > > Everything published before 1923 is already in the public domain > > http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
Disney was responsible for changing the copyright laws. Probably, Mickey Mouse appeared in 1923. How? Lotsa money, that's how. The referenced chart tends to indicate what I have noted, altho there are a few exceptions. Maybe not 200 years, but it is still true that practically nobody will ever see a copyright expire--particularly one that was filed in the last 20 or 30 years. If you know any way to influence Congress, it would be a boon to Americans to make copyrights for writers, painters, musicians, etc., expire at _most_ 20 years after they die, and for corporate copyrights, to have no longer life than patents. (A corporate copyright is in all respects exactly equal to a patent, in my view.) A trademark is a different animal. It should last as long as the company which registered it plus a reasonable time--maybe 10 years. All of this is strictly my opinion--I'm not a lawyer--but I suspect that most Americans would be happy to agree with me. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
