Re: "Against Intellectual Property"

On Tue, Aug 29, 2000 at 08:53:27AM -0500, Roland J. Cole wrote:
>
> I would also note that in today's world, making copyright longer does not
> necessarily protect the creator. Both record companies and publishers are
> famous for demanding full assignment of copyright, and in some cases suing
> the original creator when he or she "came to close" to repeating a work so
> assigned. The termination right provides some protection; but so would a
> renewal scheme, where only the original creator could renew. So would a
> shorter copyright term, or a narrower scope to copyright.

Now that I've had an extra month to think about it, Dodi Schultz (the poster who begain this thread) IS being treated unfairly by the current copyright system, and it ought to be changed slightly so she can do something about her works being pirated.

Not with perpetual copyrights or draconian new anti-infringement penalties, mind you. This would be much friendlier and "greener". We need a Federal Small-Claims Copyright Court, where authors can fill out some simple paperwork, show whatever evidence they have to the judge, and (if they prevail) collect the statutory damages that same afternoon. No attorneys present; and 17 USC 504 (c)(1) awards only. Received on Wed Aug 30 2000 - 20:07:47 GMT