Re: Copyright & The New World Economic Order

On Sun, 1 Aug 1999, Jeroen Hellingman <jehe[_at_]kabelfoon.nl> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 30 Jul 1999, Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, 29 Jul 1999, John Lederer <johnl[_at_]ibm.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > (4) The extension of terms to increasingly long periods in the midst
> > > of technological,economic, and social changes that argue for shorter
> > > periods merely increases the tension.
> >
> > There are two sides to the argument. Greater investment,
> > particularly in creations aimed at mass audiences,
> > supports longer terms and better protection.
>
> How much is the added value for an investor of 20 years more protection
> after some 70 years from now? For how many investors would it make the
> difference? The longer protection terms have mostly been lobbied by a
> few who have copyrights that still earn and that are about to expire...
> Even the extremely expensive hollywood productions earn themselves back
> within five years, or never... All the rest is nice, but not the
> investors mayor concern.

According to Publishers Weekly the 20-year extension of the U.S. term to 70 years to harmonize with the Europeans may be worth $330 million to the holders of the Winnie the Pooh copyrights. For writers and publishers, that is a powerful encouragement to create modest stories that may be timeless.

Albert Henderson
Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY
<70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Mon Aug 02 1999 - 13:23:31 GMT