RE: Re: Life + Years Ule

I have to say, I REALLY like this. Especially if it, like registration, it does not prevent an injunction to cease and desist, rather it serves as a prequisite for damages. After all, how great are your economic interests if you can't be bothered to say "Mail my check here."

-----Original Message-----
From: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property [mailto:CNI-COPYRIGHT[_at_]cni.org] On Behalf Of Laurie Urquiaga Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 4:17 PM
To: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property Subject: [CNI-(C)] Re: Life + Years Ule

Tim, I apparently wasn't clear. My proposal was actually to create in the statute a rebuttable presumption that the demise of the author occurs 25 years after publication, leading to a fixed 95 year copyright term (life of 25 years + 70 = 95 years). The presumption of death could be rebutted by a valid entry in an authors registry that indicated whether the author was still living, or give the date of demise, and either way included a valid contact name and address for permissions requests. The registry itself could be supported by registration fees. Failure to register could be interpreted as a lack of interest in exploiting a copyright. How, exactly, would such a system violate Berne? It actually implements a term of life + 70, but defines "life" as 25 unless positive action is taken to show otherwise. Laurie

Laureen C. Urquiaga
Associate Library Director for Access Services Law School Copyright Coordinator

urquiagal[_at_]lawgate.byu.edu

>>> tja[_at_]mds.rmit.edu.au 5/3/04 1:37:04 PM >>>
Laurie described a scheme to ensure that copyright only subsisted 25 years after publication if contact information for authors and rights-holders were registered.

Only problem is, the Berne Convention (to which the US is a signatory), states that "the enjoyment and the exercise of these rights [copyright] shall not be subject to any formality"
http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/5.html and duration is life + 50 years not 25 years after publication http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/7.html

Arguably, the requirement for registration to bring suit for US citizens and for costs and certain types of damages for everybody is already in breach of this clause. The US is unlikely to mess with this area without increasing the level of conformance to Berne rather than retreating from it. Intellectual property regimes are international and unilateral changes by the US (or any other nation) are increasingly difficult. The current copyright register is as close as you are likely to get.

-- 
| Tim Arnold-Moore, Ph.D., LL.B., B.Sc. (Hons)
| Address:  RMIT Multimedia Database Systems
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