Rattling the copyright cage

[vniow]

WASHINGTON - Stanford University law Professor Larry Lessig will ask the Supreme Court today to strike down a law that he sees as unconstitutionally limiting public access to cultural works and as a threat to the free-flowing nature of the Internet.

As the first copyright case the Supreme Court has heard in decades, it's a critical test of the balance between the rights of creators and the public's rights to use others' creative works.

If Lessig is successful, thousands of works of film, literature and music from the early 20th century -- such as the first Mickey Mouse film, ``Steamboat Willie,'' Ernest Hemingway's ``The Sun Also Rises'' and George Gershwin's ``Rhapsody in Blue'' -- would move into the public domain for others to draw upon freely.

This was an article in the paper I thouht was interesting.

click

[Hemingray]

It's only a matter of time before such landmark works as these become public domain. I'm not so sure about the timeframe, though. I think the period should be more along the lines of 100 years or so. It seems a little too soon for those copyrighted works mentioned in the article.

[big]

The US Congress is moving to extend current copywrite laws form "lifetime + 20 years" to another 20 years. I have a major problem with this. First and foremost, Adults are too old to wear Mickey mouse T-shirts and watches. So what if someone starts printing their own "donald duck" hats?

Secondly, the original copywrite laws were placed on a time frame previously deemed worthy. Walt Disney has long since died, and I don't think his family deserved to reep all the millions of dollars the public spends.

Why did Congress orginally place a limit on copywrites? There was a reason, now we are changing these limits because the EU (Euopean Union) is doing the same, so Congress says anyways.

It is atrocious that we have a body of government that can so easily come through and make modifications to our laws. I don't know about you, but my letter is in the mail to my Congressman already.

Be not fooled, it is about money. Special interest groups want to hold their claim to Americana, and such works as previously mentioned are a part of all of our lives. Why can't some one come through and write a play or movie based on `The Sun Also Rises'.

I will have you note that many many many movies & plays have been written & produced based on Shakepear's Romeo & Juliet, but everyone remembers hat it was William whom wrote it originally. These works will not be deminished in their value, and for the record, `copy' is the largest form of flatery.

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[MrMacMan]

I think disney owns some copyrights from the 1800's
Yeah they keep giving them 'extensions' and such.
Even if they make $0 off of the copyrights... What Disney Should of done was made spirited away a Wide release so they could make some Real $$$.