RE: [dvd-discuss] Eldred Amicus

["Michael A Rolenz" <Michael.A.Rolenz(at)aero.org>]

I agree. This is ANOTHER problem with current copyright that needs to be 
addressed eventually. I don't want to sound paranoid but I'm beginning to 
wonder if the whole purpose of the last 26yrs of copyright reform really 
hasn't been to create perpetual copyright and eliminate the public domain?

WRT to media-This is a serious problem and not just for motion pictures 
and sound recordings. A few years ago I discovered compatibilities between 
Office95 and Office97 (as well as Office2000). A documnent template 
created in Word on a macintosh (originally but converted to PC later) 
cases later versions of word to hang up (VB debugger shows a pointer going 
out of bounds). About the same time I had to convert help a coworker 
covert from multimate (and his 486 pc) to Office97  (and pentiumII). NO 
conversion program exists anylonger in Office95. I would up finding 
WordPerfect 4.0 and converting multimate to that which could be imported 
into word. Since multimate (and word) stores the documents as a journal 
file of entries and commands if you don't have the multimate parser, the 
flat file is totally unusable. In his case, chapter 3 was before chapter 2 
because that was the order he wrote them.




"D. C. Sessions" <dcs@lumbercartel.com>
Sent by: owner-dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
05/30/2002 09:06 PM
Please respond to dvd-discuss

 
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        Subject:        RE: [dvd-discuss] Eldred Amicus


On Thu, 2002-05-30 at 18:23, Arnold G. Reinhold wrote:
> If the original work has passed into the public domain, you can 
> always copy that. If the additions for the new work (with new 
> copyright) are small, you should be happy to simply use the older 
> edition. The only problem I see is if the new version is of higher 
> quality, say a DVD vs. VHS.  Then the question arises as to what 
> happens if you copy the from the new version only the material that 
> was in the old version. Is that fair use or even simply non 
> infringing? Is there any case law?

The problem is bit rot.  Planned obsolescence of media.
By the time the original Star Wars enters the public
domain (even if we turn the clock back to 50 years)
there won't be any surviving videotapes of the original,
there won't be any surviving players for them, and there
won't be any TV sets capable of displaying NTSC format.

All of the new copies will of course have additions and
new copyright dates.

-- 
| May I have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, |
|  the strength to change the things I cannot accept, and the   |
|    cunning to hide the bodies of those who got in my way.     |
+------------- D. C. Sessions <dcs@lumbercartel.com> -----------+