Re: copyright extension - Vaughan Williams

Dennis Karjala writes:
>
> I regret that disharmony in term makes you so unhappy, but I
> personally cannot see why the matter of term harmonization is so
> important, especially when other major issues like works for hire,
> moral rights, and fair use remain unharmonized. Moreover, why must
> harmonization go in the direction of the longer term?

The reason is simple. If the US was to DECREASE the term there would be problems with existing rights, and the same is true of European countries. In fact until quite recently, most European countries had life+50 years not life+70 but Germany had a life+70 years term. Because its easier to increase the term rather than decrease it (in terms of legislative complexity) the EC directive chose to harmonize on the longer term when the shorter term was also an option.

> Why doesn't Europe harmonize with the United States, both on the
> specific question of term and on the more basic question of including
> a PUBLIC benefit in the copyright rationale?
 

US copyright is probably the most inconsistent with the rest of the world in other ways so harmony with the US is not a high priority anywhere in the world. The vast majority of Berne-member countries have life+50 or more as their base term (with some variation for particular categories of work). The US is the johny-come-lately to Berne and is considered by most European countries to be a bit behind in copyright development, particularly after its belated capitulation on formal requirements for subsistence.

There is a public benefit in the copyright rationale of every country but it is not required constitutionally in most other places. Therefore legislation and legislative reform in most countries is not REQUIRED to address it in the way that the US is. Inevitably they do because it is the main argument against longer terms but it holds less sway.

> In any event, there is no way to make you happy with respect to
> harmonization of terms, except as to post-1978 works by individual
> authors. All works published prior to 1978 have a 75-year term, as
> do post-1978 works for hire, in the U.S.

Illustrating precisely the problem of harmonization for Germany. Of course if all Berne countries could agree on a term, we could solve the inconsistencies at least for works created in the future. I suspect we will be waiting a while for that one.

> It's time to stop talking about "harmonization" in connection
> with this extension scam. The extension bills will NOT achieve
> harmonization even with respect to terms, let alone other aspects.

Here I agree completely.

I believe a certain lobby group has got their way in Europe and now they are attempting to create/ride a wave to achieve the same results around the world.

Other countries may stand with the US against the EC but if the US and Europe goes in a certain direction, all but the fringe will be drawn along with them.

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