11 ms·

Copyright is in dire need of reforms. Those laws were mostly made before perfect digital copies, but also before digital enforcement and "licensing“ instead of

Copyright is in dire need of reforms. Those laws were mostly made before perfect digital copies, but also before digital enforcement and "licensing“ instead of ownership.

vel0city 2y ago
There needs to be some overhauls to fix the damage Disney et al. did to our copyright system. The Copyright Act of 1976 and later Copyright Term Extension Act did so much damage to the concept of public domain. Being able to own exclusive control over a work for up to 120 years is insane.
- 999900000999 2y ago
  I think capping copyright at 20 years would do wonders. After 20 years everyone's gotten paid and can move onto other projects. I can never imagine this happening though. It's too profitable to keep milking the rare hit IP for decades. For example, Harry Potter has already made JK Rolling a billionaire. She'd be fine if the books went public domain. So many works will be lost since they're no longer available legally. All that artistic effort, gone.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > capping copyright at 20 years would do wonders You’d probably have to grandfather in copyrights made before the law went into effect. Too much money tied up in the long-tail of prior works.
    - 999900000999 2y ago
      Of course you'd grandfather in older works. But it's a moot point, in most places money is more important than access to art. I can't imagine such a law ever being passed. The tragedy here is so much will simply disappear. Original publisher doesn't want to do a re-issue, how will you access it in 30 years?
      - triceratops 2y ago
        I assume you'd start archiving right now when it's available. In 20 years it'll be public domain and freely accessible.
lesuorac 2y ago
Would definitely like if items weren't stuck in the form you got them. A movie on VHS seems entirely reasonable to convert to DVD or w/e so long as you don't then sell the VHS while keeping the DVD. Image not being able to frame a poster because it didn't come in a frame to begin with.
tzs 2y ago
> Those laws were mostly made before perfect digital copies There are a variety of arguments used to justify copyright, ranging from philosophical to economical, and I can't think of any of them whose validity or lack thereof depends on whether or not copies are perfect.

Copyright is in dire need of reforms. Those laws were mostly made before perfect digital copies, but also before digital enforcement and "licensing“ instead of ownership.

vel0city 2y ago

There needs to be some overhauls to fix the damage Disney et al. did to our copyright system. The Copyright Act of 1976 and later Copyright Term Extension Act did so much damage to the concept of public domain. Being able to own exclusive control over a work for up to 120 years is insane.

999900000999 2y ago
I think capping copyright at 20 years would do wonders. After 20 years everyone's gotten paid and can move onto other projects. I can never imagine this happening though. It's too profitable to keep milking the rare hit IP for decades. For example, Harry Potter has already made JK Rolling a billionaire. She'd be fine if the books went public domain. So many works will be lost since they're no longer available legally. All that artistic effort, gone.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > capping copyright at 20 years would do wonders You’d probably have to grandfather in copyrights made before the law went into effect. Too much money tied up in the long-tail of prior works.
  - 999900000999 2y ago
    Of course you'd grandfather in older works. But it's a moot point, in most places money is more important than access to art. I can't imagine such a law ever being passed. The tragedy here is so much will simply disappear. Original publisher doesn't want to do a re-issue, how will you access it in 30 years?
    - triceratops 2y ago
      I assume you'd start archiving right now when it's available. In 20 years it'll be public domain and freely accessible.

lesuorac 2y ago

Would definitely like if items weren't stuck in the form you got them. A movie on VHS seems entirely reasonable to convert to DVD or w/e so long as you don't then sell the VHS while keeping the DVD. Image not being able to frame a poster because it didn't come in a frame to begin with.

tzs 2y ago

> Those laws were mostly made before perfect digital copies There are a variety of arguments used to justify copyright, ranging from philosophical to economical, and I can't think of any of them whose validity or lack thereof depends on whether or not copies are perfect.