Re:ELDRED

Linda - I appreciate that you've thought about the problem and constructed a thoughtful argument in favor of extended copyrights for certain creative works. You are not alone; there are many others who feel as you do (albeit few on this particular list).

The problems as I see them are: (1) very few copyrights are still economically valuable after long periods of time, so the works just disappear, instead of continuing to be exploited by the original author's heirs/assignees (perhaps something like Erik's tax would solve this); (2) perpetual copyright is unconstitutional, so how long does a copyright have to be (or how many times does it have to be extended) before you would admit it is essentially perpetual? (3) your point of view would basically "freeze" the public domain as it exists now.

As I doubt either of us will persuade the other to change his/her position, we may just have to agree to disagree on this point. (I'll let you have the last word if you wish.) Thanks for your contribution to the debate.

Tyler T. Ochoa
Professor and Co-Director
Center for Intellectual Property Law
Whittier Law School
3333 Harbor Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 444-4141, ext. 243
(714) 444-1854 (fax)
tochoa[_at_]law.whittier.edu

>>> linda[_at_]novelart.com 01/24/03 03:45AM >>>
Hello Tyler, I'm not against the revamping of public domain works as it has occurred in the past. I think Disney is an excellent example of the benefit of building upon the public domain. I'm just concerned because this is the digital age in which new venues are being created all the time and in which everyone can be a desktop publisher and worldwide distributor. Rehashing the works of Disney once they've entered the public domain has the potential to drastically depress the marketplace partly because of Disney's own marketing, but also because of the sheer volume that I believe will be produced. I can think of no comparison between the mass marketed works of Disney and previous works that have entered public domain. I can think of no other situation in which a company was still currently marketing material in such a variety of ways. I think Disney can contribute far more to the public good if allowed to continue.
<<<<< Received on Mon Jan 27 2003 - 19:18:46 GMT