Re: Constitutional Challenge to (C) Code

On Mon, 30 Mar 1998, Terry Carroll wrote:
>
> On Sat, 28 Mar 1998, Bob Smith <cosmith[_at_]ash.palni.edu> wrote:
> >
> > What would be the likelyhood of success for a Constitutional Challenge
> > of the Duration of Copyright under both current and pending US Code?
> > It seems to me that life plus fifty-seventy years does not "promote the
> > progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited time."
> > I do not understand how a lifetime beyond my lifetime is limited and how
> > it guarentees my right to my work when I am dead. Class action, anyone?
>
> The difficulty would be finding a defendant for the class action.

Or, to turn the table around, one can try to be sued. Say, if a person has a book whose copyright is to be expired at the end of this year (end of Dec. 31, 1998) but is extended by the stupid law for 20 more years, he/she can copy the book to, say, a web site and wait for the lawsuit from the copyright owner.

If there is no lawsuit from the copyright owner, fine. On the other hand, if the copyright owner sues the copier, will the copier be able to challenge the copyright law on the constitutional ground?

You know, something like Wheaton v. Peters. (For those who is not familiar with the court case, the majority of the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution has obliterated the perpetual copyright which was found in the common property right which was carried over from England.)

Just a thought,

Joseph Pietro Riolo
<riolo[_at_]voicenet.com> Received on Wed Apr 01 1998 - 00:46:38 GMT