Court nixes lawsuit fighting copyright law

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I oversimplified.

I wrote:
I don't care how long the copyright can extend.

You're right. I do care. I think the current duration is absurd.

I was thinking about the context. From the way I read the recent Supreme Court ruling, a copyright can last a million years, and as long as Congress passes a law specifying exactly 1,000,000 years, it's valid.
So, my statement was intended to imply that I wasn't trying to change the Court decision. Only to get more works that no one wanted to keep under copyright into the public domain. As it stands now, every work is protected for the maximum duration. Why not at least reduce the number of works withheld? Half a loaf...


Where I disagree with you is when you said:
You really can't argue that the public domain is [not] the place where the most innovation can happen, since there's no restrictions there. Anyone can innovate freely once the work is in the public domain, but while a copyright exists only the copyright holder can innovate.

"Innovate" is a loaded word, and without reading the other posts (yet) I expect that No_Ax is appreciating the detonation.
I'll just point out that works/ideas that are the property of another can still be used. There just has to be proper recompense, anything from money to citation.
The proper discussion on this topic is about the risk of the property holder refusing to give permission for use.

Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 11/25/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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