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How does shortening copyright length solve the DRM problem? Companies could still put DRM on 50 year old content, and it would still be illegal to break the DRM
by Thorrez 6y ago
How does shortening copyright length solve the DRM problem? Companies could still put DRM on 50 year old content, and it would still be illegal to break the DRM because breaking DRM is against the law even if an individual piece of content isn't copyrighted.
- jimbob45 6y agoCopyright exists to motivate artists (and others) to extraordinary levels of effort by rewarding them extremely handsomely for their struggles (life copyright + 70 years for their kids). It’s arguable that 20 years still provides most of that same motivation and disallows huge corporations to profit off of artists who have been dead for 40+ years. What motivation to new artists does anyone owning the rights to Mickey Mouse do other than enrich people who had no hand in creating it? Shortening copyright would allow DRM to focus on a very small subset of works and allow everyone to use and enjoy older works. Yes, DRM may be arbitrarily placed on anything but if the work can be freely acquired elsewhere without fear of retribution, then no one will seek out the DRM version anyway.
- Thorrez 6y agoHmm, good point. One single person can bypass the DRM, and then everyone else can copy that file indiscriminately.
- zozbot234 6y ago> breaking DRM is against the law even if an individual piece of content isn't copyrighted This is not the case actually; the problem is that while breaking "protection measures" on a non-copyrighted work may be legal per se, DMCA 1201 will still hinder development of tools to break such protection, as long as these same measures are being used to provide effective protection on copyrighted works.