The Copyright Term Extension Act

S

shirish

Explorer
See the whole thing here . I was just browsing through the net & came across this & now realize why we were getting those classics on the Chip/Digit DVD's. Just to start the discussion :-

Wikipedia said:
The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998—alternatively known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act or pejoratively as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act—extended copyright terms in the United States by 20 years. Before the act (under the Copyright Act of 1976), copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years, or 75 years for a work of corporate authorship; the act extended these terms to life of the author plus 70 years and 95 years respectively. The act also affected copyright terms for copyrighted works published prior to 1978-01-01, increasing their term of protection by 20 years as well. This effectively 'froze' the advancement date of the public domain in the United States for works covered by the older fixed term copyright rules. Under this act, no additional works made in 1923 or afterwards that were still copyrighted in 1998 will enter the public domain until 2019, unless the owner of the copyright relases them into the public domain prior to that. Unlike copyright extension legislation in the European Union, the Sonny Bono Act did not revive copyrights that had already expired. The act did extend the terms of protection set for works that were already copyrighted, and is retroactive in that sense. However, works created before January 1, 1978 but not published or registered for copyright until recently are addressed in a special section (17 U.S.C. § 303) and may remain protected until 2047. The act became Public Law 105-298 on 1998-10-27.
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If this isn't arm-twisting & greed then tell me what is. Anybody, please show me how this is reasonable? I'm ready to hear anything, any point which makes this right. This is the reason why I can't get Mozart or any other great composer of last century's sheet music in the public domain. When you make your next movie, book or whatever would you like some publisher who ransoms your creation after you're gone from the next generation.
That's why I love creative commons. There are alternatives but people need to be aware of them. Guys I would seriously love to see some discussion on this :)

Edit :- In fact, like the Public Domain Enhancement Act & would love to see it getting passed. Atleast some method to the madness.

See this creativedot thing happening in delhi . I hope more people make sites/communities for this. Even this one needs to be highlighted.
 
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