Fair IP Laws?

epsalon asks: "Most of us are against the current status of Copyright and Patent law, and are outraged from stuff like the DMCA, SSSCA, et al. We know that this system is wrong, and must be changed. However, nullifying all IP laws is IMHO a bit too strong, because there will be no incentive to create anything for mass market sale except out of goodwill, or for leveraging other revenue (aka Linux). Assuming you could rewrite the entire world IP law, and even create a new social system, my question is: What laws can be written that will be fair both to content creators and to users, while cutting the middleman?" Here's your chance to do something other than complain about the current state things. How would you revise or restructure IP and copyright law to make both sides of the fence happy?

Comments

Copyrights on software should be shortened

[JordanH]

Seeing as the whole purpose of IP is "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;", it's absurd to hold a copyright on software for 70 or 90 years or whatever the current law holds.

It's just way way overkill. Rather than promoting progress and the "useful Arts", the current system just extends a monopoly into the indefinite future and discourages anyone from building on your work constructively.

Really, if you can't get enough benefit out of writing a piece of software in 10 years, then it's someone else's turn. Note that you could make modifications in those 10 years and those could be copyrighted, but let the original software go back to the public domain in a reasonable time.

Ten years is just notional. I'm not sure where I'd set it, but I know 70 years is ridiculous and the 90 years granted to corporations (most Software copyrights on proprietary software is probably held by corporations) is even more out there.

Software is different than other IP. It's greatest benefit to society is in it's use and in it's flexibility. A sensible policy wrt to software copyrights would encourage more flexibility and more use.

One thing I've NEVER seen here....

[Compulawyer]

... is a CONSTRUCTIVE criticism of software patents. I've seen plenty of comments that reduce down to "patents are bad" but no one ever says why. As a patent attorney who writes and litigates software patents I'd like to find out what exactly people are against with patents in this area. Is it because the USPTO has so few good examiners in the area that there is a sense that the quality of software patents is poor? Or is it simply that because there are so many talented programmers out there who can write code that does the same thing as the patented code that they don't want any impediments whatsoever? As for the former, I agree it is a concern, but one the USPTO is trying to address by hiring more (and more talented) examiners. As for the latter, I have serious problems because I see this as simply asking for special treatment in the eyes of the law.

Patents are most necessary in areas where it is EASY to copy inventions. If everyone needed a few million $ worth of hardware to make the invention, the patent doesn't add that much value against the masses of people who want to copy your invention, it only protects you against the few who have the actual resources to do so. Every other industry has dealt with patents for years. It is time for the software developers as a whole to do so as well.

Charge for it in geometrically increasing sums

[ChenLing]

For the holder of the copyright / patent:
For the first year, pay $1.
For the second, pay $2.
For the third, pay $4.
Then $8, $16, $32, etc....
After 10 years, you would have paid >$1,000.
After 20 years, you would have paid >$1,000,000.
For different industries, you can set
different starting points (so a $1 starting point could be good for books, maybe $1000 for software patents, etc).
So short term, anyone can benefit, and long term, more things will go back into the public domain.
That way, if it is still economically sound for you to hold your copyright/patent, you still can.
If not, it goes into the public domain.
The money collected could help fund basic research.
Oh, and this should be applied retroactively to all current copyrights/patents (take that Disney!).

Also, maybe allow copyrights be to held by coporations, but say every 5 years, it has to go back to the person/people who created it. Allow them the option of re-licensing it back to a company though.