Re: True or False Question (Copying the

On 21 February 97, John Lederer <johnl[_at_]ibm.net> wrote:
>
> Would you regard the temporary monopoly granted by the copyright laws
> as a property right entitled to full Fifth amendment protection? For
> instance, if Congress decided to expand fair use for works in being
> might that be a taking under the Fifth amendment?
>
> Could Congress shorten the term of copyright for works in being?
> Could the fact that the right is a property right provide an avenue
> to avoid the restrictions of the copyright clause's purpose,
> i.e., if something is my property, then I can generally do with it
> as I will, even if the result is to block the progress of science.

Is a work in which copyright has expired the "property" of the public, in which case wouldn't lengthening the term of copyright in another person's work deprive me of property which I already own? Is such an extension constitutionally objectionable in the US?

Lengthening the copyright term is of course what the Term Directive has just done in the EU. Perhaps extending the term retrospectively conflicts with Art 1 of 1st Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights ("Noone shall be deprived of his possessions...")

Justin Watts
justin.watts[_at_]bristows.co.uk Received on Fri Feb 21 1997 - 13:52:54 GMT