Re: Copyright Extension Bill Passes Congress

On 29 Oct 1998, Tyler Ochoa <tochoa[_at_]law.whittier.edu> wrote:
>
> The problem is that a copyrighted work is a public good: its value
> does not depreciate over time, so the benefits it produces are
> potentially infinite in duration. Unless we want to to keep track
> of every authors' heirs for eternity, some time period must be set.
> In order to reduce transaction costs in later years, a shorter
> period makes more sense than a longer one; but it must be long
> enough to produce the number of artistic works we desire.

The theory of copyright value not depreciating over time surprises me. In my experience, values change all the time. I would be interested in any studies ...

Albert Henderson, Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY <70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Mon Nov 02 1998 - 22:38:25 GMT