Re: [dvd-discuss] Eldred Amicus

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

Consider this....when someone publishes any work, they are required to 
affix a notice or the work enters the public domain immediately. They must 
send the LOC a copy with a small fee and some paperwork to register it. 
And the really neat part of this is that anybody who picks up the book at 
any time can read the notice add a fixed time to it and determine when the 
copyright expires. How about that? Three things to do and one can figure 
out when things enter the public domain by using simple arithmetic. Now is 
that a simple effective system or what?




Ernest Miller <ernest.miller@aya.yale.edu>
Sent by: owner-dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
05/29/2002 03:43 AM
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        Subject:        Re: [dvd-discuss] Eldred Amicus


I think we should move away from "lifetime of the author" to some fixed 
term (preferably much shorter than present).

Jolley wrote:
> The answer for an upper limit could be in the constitution.
>   ...by securing for limited Times to Authors...
> Anything granted beyond an author's lifetime is being granted to
> someone else.
> 
> someone somewhere wrote:
> 
>>I don't think that the court will give a precise answer to what 'limited
>>times' are, since no one seems to have given them any detailed 
information
>>as to how they would decide that.  Plaintiffs only say, that constant
>>extending isn't limited any more, but they, nor amici say that eg. 28 or 
5
>>or 10 years is limited and why eg. life expectancy, speed of 
distribution,
>>... . Even the economists amici, altough they say that long terms are
>>economically not right, don't say what a proper term could be.  Since
>>nothing specific has been offered, I don't think the court will just 
figure
>>out something by itself.  I think a chance has been missed here...
>>
> 
>