[clue-talk] The War On...?

[Sean LeBlanc]

On 12-29 20:55, Joseph A. Nagy, Jr. wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 29, 2004 at 07:14:36PM -0700, Matt Gushee wrote the following:
> > Joseph A. Nagy, Jr. wrote:
> > 
> > >Is it? It used to be that a copyright only lasted for the life of the owner
> > >(and that is the limit to which I recognize copyrights). Now they last for
> > >the life of the author +75-95 years so corporations can make even MORE 
> > >money.
> > >That is completely unjust. When did the corporate rights mean more then the
> > >rights of the author? I also have problems with estates claiming ownership
> > >over works of deceased authors. Sorry, but Tolkien, Chaucer, and Asimov's
> > >works are all public domain now,
> > 
> > Sorry, but under US law (and probably British also), Tolkien and Asimov 
> > are quite a few years from entering the public domain--and that's not a 
> > new development, either. There have been several revisions to copyright 
> > law that progressively extended the term--I forget exactly when those 
> > were enacted, but it may have been 1923, 1969, and 1997.
> > 
> > Now, if you said "should be," or "ethically speaking," I think I'd agree 
> > with you.
> 
> Given what I said in another post on this thread that I only recognize
> copyright to last until the creators death, it is an accurate statement. I
> will treat their works as being in the public domain, and if I am ever sued,
> I know a few Libertarian lawyers who might take my case pro-bono (if I had
> money, I'd be more then happy to pay them, though).

(IANAL and all that)

Given that:

1. Most movies are group efforts, and the "creator" would probably
be a corporation in this case.
2. Corporations never "die" (at least, not anymore).
3. Corporations have legal "personhood".

For movies anyway, having the copyright expire on the creator's death will
be effectively meaningless for movies...unless there are provisions to
change the above, or all works have to be attributed to actual humans.


-- 
Sean LeBlanc:seanleblanc at comcast.net  
At the beginning and at the end of love, the two lovers are embarrassed to 
find themselves alone. 
-La Bruyere