4 ms·

Actually this is a very good thing. Politicians being such cheap dates over this topic means that it should be possible for a bunch of us to chip in and buy the

Actually this is a very good thing. Politicians being such cheap dates over this topic means that it should be possible for a bunch of us to chip in and buy them all off when the next extension comes up. A PAC or a public pledge of donations devoted to ending the copyright mafia’s control would not need much support to get real results.

theGimp 11y ago
People who stand to make money off copyright legislation will almost certainly be willing to pitch in more than you are.
- danieltillett 11y ago
  Yes it could get into a bidding war, but it would at least be worth trying. The most likely chance of success would be a fight for better handling of orphan works. We could free 99.9% of all material that should be coming out of copyright while having very little or no impact on the copyright mafia.
  - eru 11y ago
    That's why they should just pass a law that specifically puts Mickey Mouse under copyright forever instead of general extensions for everything.
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      It would probably be best to not get into specific cases, but try to find a way that could be more general - say let a current copyright holder extend the copyright of an item for 10 years for a nominal fee (say $100). The money could go to fund a website that would list which old works were still copyright protected. Mickey would be safe from entering the public domain and everything else would automatic become public domain.
      - eru 11y ago
        Why not get into specific cases? I know it smells funny to a programmer, but pragmatically just giving Disney an explicit exemption would take them out of the lobbying game.
  - jsprogrammer 11y ago
    If those who you are going to war with can cover your net worth with their annual lobbying budget...you will probably just be wiped out. Probably a better idea to look for a non-monetary solution. Then you don't even need to fight in that battlefield.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  (Spoiler alert: Makers by Cory Doctorow) Maybe we can do it the way protagonists of the book Makers did? They figured out a way to make some IP lawsuits against Disney look profitable enough that it attracted VC investments and suddenly all the power of startup funding industry was redirected to destroy Disney.
- Qwertious 11y ago
  If that happened, it'd probably be big enough to get mainstream media attention ("grassroots VS corporate lobbying bidding-war!"), at which point politicians might well be forced to side with the grassroots for fear of their image permanently being stuck as "a corporate sell-out", at which point we've won regardless of how much money corporate lobbying puts in.

theGimp 11y ago

People who stand to make money off copyright legislation will almost certainly be willing to pitch in more than you are.

danieltillett 11y ago
Yes it could get into a bidding war, but it would at least be worth trying. The most likely chance of success would be a fight for better handling of orphan works. We could free 99.9% of all material that should be coming out of copyright while having very little or no impact on the copyright mafia.
- eru 11y ago
  That's why they should just pass a law that specifically puts Mickey Mouse under copyright forever instead of general extensions for everything.
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    It would probably be best to not get into specific cases, but try to find a way that could be more general - say let a current copyright holder extend the copyright of an item for 10 years for a nominal fee (say $100). The money could go to fund a website that would list which old works were still copyright protected. Mickey would be safe from entering the public domain and everything else would automatic become public domain.
    - eru 11y ago
      Why not get into specific cases? I know it smells funny to a programmer, but pragmatically just giving Disney an explicit exemption would take them out of the lobbying game.
- jsprogrammer 11y ago
  If those who you are going to war with can cover your net worth with their annual lobbying budget...you will probably just be wiped out. Probably a better idea to look for a non-monetary solution. Then you don't even need to fight in that battlefield.
TeMPOraL 11y ago
(Spoiler alert: Makers by Cory Doctorow) Maybe we can do it the way protagonists of the book Makers did? They figured out a way to make some IP lawsuits against Disney look profitable enough that it attracted VC investments and suddenly all the power of startup funding industry was redirected to destroy Disney.
Qwertious 11y ago
If that happened, it'd probably be big enough to get mainstream media attention ("grassroots VS corporate lobbying bidding-war!"), at which point politicians might well be forced to side with the grassroots for fear of their image permanently being stuck as "a corporate sell-out", at which point we've won regardless of how much money corporate lobbying puts in.