Interesting People mailing list archives
Re: Extending copyright to last forever?
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 20 May 2007 17:18:07 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Roland Cole <cole () spi org> Date: May 20, 2007 4:43:57 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: RE: [IP] Extending copyright to last forever? Reply-To: cole () spi org I have taught Copyright Law at a Law School. I am NOT in the "copyright forever" camp. My biggest concern is not what the lawyers call "literalcopying" (as when someone makes exact digital copies of a sound recording),
but when the second author is deemed guilty of an "adaptation" or "substantial similarity." Having copyright for a long time would be less problematic if modern application does not also expand its scope.Much of Disney's material would run afoul of forever copyright. Remember,
George Harrison was deemed guilty for repeating a standard 3 or 4 notesequence and thus making "My Sweet Lord" substantially similar to "He's So Fine." The "He's So Fine" crowd did not even have to prove that Harrison had ever seen the sheet music or heard the song -- because it was popular, it
was assumed he had heard it.How would Mr. Halperin like to be guilty of copyright violation because he used the phrase "they are allowed to flow from one generation to the next" and while the copyright office says short phrases themselves are not subject to copyright, at least one court has held that a single note worth of sound
was too much for a second recording artist to copy. Also, he is not the first person to call for permanent copyright. He mentions the difference between idea and expression, but as observers ofrecent court cases can attest, even a little bit of exact match may lead a court to call a second work either substantial similar to the first or an adaptation of it. At least if the copyright in the first work has expired,
the second author is saved that risk.I am sympathetic to authors getting a better cut vis-à-vis publishers, but
do not think that making the copyright term longer will have much if any effect on that division. Rollie Cole Roland J. Cole, J.D., Ph.D. Director of Technology Policy Sagamore Institute for Policy Research 340 West Michigan, Canal Suite B INDIANAPOLIS IN 46202 317-727-8940; rollie () sipr org; www.sipr.org -----Original Message----- From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net] Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 3:42 PM To: ip () v2 listbox com Subject: [IP] Extending copyright to last forever? Begin forwarded message: From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com> Date: May 20, 2007 10:30:48 AM EDT To: dave () farber net Cc: lauren () vortex com Subject: Extending copyright to last forever? Dave,Must read -- but take your blood pressure medication first -- is a NYT op-ed
from Mark Helprin (a fellow at the Claremont Institute) who proposes Congress extend copyright "as far as it can throw"(ideally he says extending it forever if the pesky Constitution didn't get
in the way).I don't know if he's really serious or merely some sort of agent provocateur trying to whip people into a frenzy, but he's certainly useful as a reminder that at least ostensibly there are people who do have such views, however
ridiculous they may seem to most of us.I'm assuming that the IP readership tends not to go along with the "forever
copyright" concept. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/opinion/20helprin.html --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 http://www.pfir.org/lauren Co-Founder, PFIR- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co- Founder,
IOIC- International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net Founder,
CIFIP - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
Current thread:
- Extending copyright to last forever? David Farber (May 20)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Extending copyright to last forever? David Farber (May 20)
- Re: Extending copyright to last forever? David Farber (May 20)
- Re: Extending copyright to last forever? David Farber (May 21)