Re: actuaries and copyright extension

> Paul Heald wrote:
> >
> > Any actuary will tell you that given the current length the
> > protection, an extra 20 years will provide no added incentive.
> > So, what's the 20-year extension all about? Imposing 20 more
> > years of monopoly costs on consumers without any countervailing
> > public benefit. In some circles this is called "SUBSIDY."

Trotter Hardy replied:
>
> FWIW, I am not in favor of adding more years to the copyright term,
> except as perhaps it may be dictated by international reality. But
> the reason for my position is that there is no significant benefit
> (again, apart from international compliance, politics, etc.) from
> doing so.
>
> OTOH, I am not sure that there is much detriment in doing so. Paul
> suggests that that there is no added incentive, and particularly
> that there is no added value to a work between a 50-yr and a 70-yr
> term. But doesn't that also mean that there is no detriment? The
> reason that there is no difference in the value of a work between a
> 50 yr and a 70 year term is that no one cares about such works. If
> no one cares about them, then there isn't much detriment. If there's
> a lot of detriment, then the difference in value must be significant--
> and hence it will serve as an incentive. It seems to me, in short,
> that for the most part "ex ante value to author" and "ex ante value
> to the public" will rise or fall together, not inversely.

    Uh, uh. Just because adding 20 years to the copyright term would not significantly effect the present value of what an author does today, does not mean that the 20-year income stream has no value later down the line. Just ask Disney whether getting another 20- years worth of Mickey Mouse is valuable. The point is that if Walt Disney had been told in 1922 that his monopoly on his creation would expire in 2017 instead of 1997, and then done the math, he would not have discovered an appreciablly increased economic motivation to create his little rodent friend.

    Paul J. Heald
    University of Georgia School of Law
    <heald[_at_]jd.lawsch.uga.edu> Received on Thu Apr 18 1996 - 18:21:19 GMT