Re: [dvd-discuss]YAATEA-Yet Another Anti-Term Extension Argument

["Jeremy A Erwin" <jerwin(at)gmu.edu>]

On Sunday, January 27, 2002, at 05:16  PM, Scott A Crosby wrote:

> On Sun, 27 Jan 2002 microlenz@earthlink.net wrote:
>
>> As Lessig pointed out there were over 20,000 things copyrighted in
>> 1924 yet only about 200 are still in print today. 200/20000=1%
>> which is worse than Sturgeon's law. Copyright extension benefits
>> LESS than 1% of the creators but presents a potential
>> administrative burden on the government and society of 99 times
>> as much. Clearly the costs out weigh the benefits.
>
> Counterexample. If a document isn't worth commercially printing, then it
> isn't worth saving. Right?
>
> Thus, making those 99% of commercially irrelevant works unavailable 
> harms
> noone.
>
Well, the chief benefit of expiring copyrights would be that new 
parties, with new ideas about commercial exploitation might be able to 
exploit them more effective (or at least differently: The Count of Monte 
Cristo (Alexander Dumas, pere) recently came out as a movie. I haven't 
seen it, but the reviews seem to imply that the screenplay leaves out 
much of the original novel.
Imagine if the heirs of Dumas were able to excercise "creative control" 
over the film.

Jeremy