Re: Constitutional Challenge to (C) Code

Yet another respondent to Amy Stoller <redherring[_at_]tuna.net>, Bob Smith <cosmithb[_at_]ash.palni.edu> wrote in part:
>
> So, for the sake of a handful of heirs, so that they might make
> additional millions of dollars off of the estate of their talented
> ancestor, the works of the majority of the twentieth century's creators
> must remain either obscure or very difficult to present to new
> generations.
>
> My viewpoint, this is the very opposite of the intent of the "limited
> time" clause, which desired to make available the treasure of society
> to it after the creator had a chance to make a profit from it.

Mr Smith's argument makes the assumption that works in the public domain will be more readily available to the public than works still under copyright. A stroll through any bookstore, with a shopping list of p.d. works in hand, suggests the opposite.

Bob Cumbow
<cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> Received on Wed Apr 01 1998 - 18:08:23 GMT