Re: Fate of U.S. Bill to Extend Term of Copyright

From: A. Klett <aklett[_at_]blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1996 12:40:02 -0600 (CST)

On Thu, 28 Nov 1996 johnl[_at_]ibm.net wrote:
>
> On 11/25/96, Copylaw[_at_]aol.com said:
> >
> > If the pending bill passes both houses, it would bring U.S. Copyright
> > law into comformity with the EU. I believe failure to enact the bill
> > would have serious trade implications for the U.S., which now enjoys
> > a significant foreign surplus in copyrighted works.
>
> Conformity with a copyright system based on a fundamentally different
> rationale for copyright will always be difficult, particulalry when
> ours is based on a written constitution,.

Note that the same is true for any continental European country. The UK does not have a written constitution, true. But the UK is not the EU ! So the fact that U.S. copyright law is based on the written U.S. constitution is not the main point, since the vast majority of EU member states also have copyright laws based on the protection of property provisions in their - written - constitutions.

Alexander Klett
aklett[_at_]blue.weeg.uiowa.edu

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Received on Sat Nov 30 1996 - 18:57:13 GMT