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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 d

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 3y 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 3y 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 3y 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 3y ago
      I assume you'd start archiving right now when it's available. In 20 years it'll be public domain and freely accessible.