Re: copyright expiration as a spur to creativity

On Tue, 25 Aug 1998, Joseph Liu <liu3[_at_]law.harvard.edu> wrote:
>
> On 8/24/98, Mike Bradley <michael[_at_]vision-soft.com> wrote:
> >
> > Taking this argument, for the moment, as the starting point,
> > the next question would seem to be, how long is long enough?
> >
> > Short of a well-designed scientific experiment, that question
> > can only be answered by IP creators, and in Congress, both individual
> > and corporate creators lobbied for the longer term. So I would say
> > the question has been answered: the longer the better.
>
> Similarly, I suppose that agricultural subsidies should properly be set
> by the farm industry.

Yes. Farmers have plenty of input via official testimony and constituents' communications with their elected representatives and government agencies.

> I agree that the question "how long is long enough" is a complicated one
> (and probably impossible to answer with any degree of precision), but I
> don't see how "that question can only be answered by IP creators." Of
> course IP creators (or at least ones that have already created their IP)
> want a longer term -- it's in their direct financial interest for the
> term to be as long as possible. I don't blame them for lobbying for a
> longer term; if I were a copyright owner, I'd probably do the same. But
> the general public also has an interest in a robust public domain.
> Unfortunately, the general public doesn't have a very focused lobbying
> effort.

Check out the 1988 report to the Register of Copyrights on a related issue, Library Reproduction of Copyrighted Works (NTIS PB88-212014). Close to 1000 pages provides plenty of input from libraries and companies like Kinko Copies representing the interests of their academic and general public patrons - as well as advocates for authors and publishers.

Albert Henderson, Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY <70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Fri Aug 28 1998 - 13:53:09 GMT