> >Well, for one thing, it gives an incentice to create right on up to
> >someone's deathbed--their IP will still be valuabe to their
> estate for years
> >after their death.
>
> You misunderstood completely.
No, if i misunderstood completely I would be rallying against this strange
new laws that denies creative people the beneift of their work... I
understand. I just disagree with you.
> The copyright was extended retroactively -- there's no need for an
> incentive for dead people like Walt Disney to create, because they are
> already dead. They aren't creating anything but worm food. The
> incentives are for people who are still living. The estate, obviously,
> wants Walt's rights extended so they can continue leaching off of it, but
> that's outside the constitutional intentions of copyright.
Great, so you know Disney's motive. Cool! Now, then... that doesn't negate
the benefits of extending the copyright law provisions to all the rest of
us.
> The purpose of copyright and trademark is laid down in the Constitution:
>
> To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for
> limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their
> respective writings and discoveries;
>
> The "limited time" clause has indeed been being ignored, particularly
> with respect to copyright terms that exceed twice the productive lifetime
> of an aged artist.
No, that's not ignoring it--that's using the power they were given as they
see fit--which is EXACTLY what the Founding Fathers envisioned.
The Constition grants powers to the government, and the government uses
those powers as they see fit.
A copyright law that ignored the "limited time" phrase (the whole darn
thing's a clause!) would be something that granted copyright "in
pepertuity."
> That might be a useful argument if copyright was dated from date of
> creation. It's from date of death, as in Walt Disney's copyrights will
> expire 90 years after the day he shuffled off this mortal coil.
And a buisness's copyrights (say, MS's copyright on Windows 95) expires
either (IIRC) 100 years from date of creation or 75 years from the date of
publication, whichever is sooner.
> It's IMPOSSIBLE to live long enough to see your works become public
> domain by copyright expiration.
Not if they're held by a buisness. I was confused as to who held the
copyright, not befuddled as to the basic nature of the idea.
DM
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