Re: actuaries and copyright extension

From: <ArborLaw[_at_]aol.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 15:11:35 -0400

Trotter Hardy writes, regarding the proposed 20-year extension of copyright:
>
> 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.

The possible detriment that I see comes from continued monopoly control over an item that would otherwise be in the public domain. There is no strong caselaw doctrine of copyright misuse, and no compulsory licensing scheme. The copyright monopoly can be used to sit on unused works, as well as to derive a profit from them. It's possible that a rights-holder would find the administration costs associated with licensing old copyrights into different media to not be a profit center. In the music, photo, industrial design, and film industries, the best outcome would be that the copyrights be sold off or remaindered to stock houses. However, a rights-holder might also adopt a policy of not licensing or allowing access, or might even destroy the works, as has happened in the film industry. One person's trash can be another's treasure. I doubt that the designers of those Populuxe 1950's drapery patterns ever thought that their work would be revived for photo stock use, and they are now very hot on CD-ROM.

However the law, with the exception of local laws for the protection of historic structures, does not presently speak to the issue of preservation. As far as I know there is currently no way under US law to compel a copyright owner to help a work survive successfully all the way to its public domain status.

Carol Shepherd
===--====--=-=-=-====---===-=-=-====---===-----====-==-=-=-=====

   Carol Ruth Shepherd                          arborlaw[_at_]aol.com
                                             320 S Main Box 8403  
        business                              Ann Arbor MI 48107 
  intellectual property                      +1 313 668 4646 tel   
    and new media law                        +1 313 663 9361 fax

==--====-==-=-=-==--=--====--=-=-=-====---===-=-=-====---===---= Received on Thu Apr 18 1996 - 19:10:54 GMT