3 ms·

Back when the USA was established, it was 14 years, or 28 if renewed. That seems reasonable to me.

• _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
  I think 7 years, or 14 if renewed would be better. The early copyright systems came into being in the 1700s; present-day distribution chains are much faster.
  • chipotle_coyote 8y ago
    I'm not sure the speed of distribution is the relevant consideration. I can distribute a book I publish much more easily now, but the book isn't written and edited any faster.
    • _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
      But it can become known/popular much faster, I would assume.
      • chipotle_coyote 8y ago
        That would be my assumption, too, although it'd be interesting to try to find data to confirm that. Books (picking the field I know the most about) could still sell really well and really quickly back in the "old days"; reviews often came out in advance of the book, bookstores could take pre-orders, and so on. I don't have any real data about how the "old way" balances out against the "new way."
        • _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
          That's true. But the audiences are surely much bigger now. (Both gross population and literacy would have been lower.)