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Mexico to Abolish the Public Domain?
Anonymous Mexican Coward writes "The mexican congress is considering a revision of the copyright law. Among other changes the law will extend the term of copyright from life-plus-70 to life-plus-100, and at the end of that term, the mexican government has the right to charge royalties for works in the "public domain."
Go Mexico!
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Just because something becomes part of the public domain doesn't mean the prior owner has to release it to the public. Microsoft may very well hang onto the source code. However, if at that time somebody were to acquire a copy of that code or reverse-engineer it from the MS-DOS binaries, Microsoft couldn't sue them for copyright infringement.
"Light is faster than sound." - "Is that why people tend to look bright until you hear them speak?"
Mexicans:
Write your Deputies (by party, unfortunately) and your Senators (by state).
This will never become law. The prior "administration", whose party (the PRI) ruled the country for 80+ years is simply doing what they do best - make empty populist gestures and try to push crap through congress to see what happens.
And the current administration is unabashedly pro-business (and unfortunately pro-church as well) and since the system is similar to the US, I doubt the prez will sign it. He'll just veto it because along with his party (the PAN) he's in bed with everyone from EMI to Coca-Cola.
And the company doing this? I know them - my brother used to work here. They're used by the various families who own newspapers in Mexico to hassle each other with stupid copyright claims all the time. Of course "OLIVARES & CIA." obliges gleefully since they take a cut. Ambulance chasers of the 21st century.
Wait I'm confused, isn't this a bad thing?
Yes it's bad.
The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
Fire and the wheel are examples of patents. This article refers to copyright law, which is pretty much just on literary and artistic works.
What irony? That's where the term derives from.
Most of your posts (and bad jokes) about Mexico are besides the point.
Mexico can pass all the copyright laws they want to but it isn't going to affect the average José. Reason being, Mexico has one of the highest piracy rates in the world. Geez, there are illegal software markets, like open air markets only for wares, apps, and games. And the police don't do anything about this. I've seen police at these illegal markets, not arresting, but shopping there. This isn't going to stop anytime soon, as it is an embedded part of the culture (open air markets that sell pretty much anything).
How do I know this? I've lived here for the past 7 years. I know about this. There is no problem with this new proposed bill. Unlike the US, copyright laws aren't really enforced. The cops are underpaid, there aren't enough cops to counter the software pirates, etc. You might as well stop extrapolating what goes on in the States to what goes on in Mexico.
If anything, copyright would be a problem if you had money. If you own a disco or a bar, then maybe you'd have some explaining to do. Since there isn't a big middle class like in the states, this law won't affect anyone but the big guy. We are all the little guys here.