Public Domain Act Introduced Into Congress

AnElder writes "In his blog yesterday Lawrence Lessig said '...Congresswoman Lofgren (D-CA) and Congressman Doolittle (R-CA) have agreed to introduce the Public Domain Enhancement Act into Congress.' Today the Eldred Act website features two press releases announcing the act's introduction, as well as its immediate support by '...the American Association of Law Libraries, the American Library Association, and the Association of Research Libraries...'" We ran a link to the petition supporting this Act a few weeks back.

Comments

Re:One problem I have with it.

[loucura!]

They aren't renewing the copyright, because Copyright in the US is Creator's life + 70 years, or in the case of Corporations 80 years, or something like that. This is merely a provision which allows a work to fall into the public domain after 50 years from the copyright date, unless the work is commercially viable, in which case, the copyright holder pays a small fee to keep the rights until the copyright term is completed.

Disney Inference

[Shadow Wrought]

Supreme Court Justice Breyer found that only about 2% of copyrights between 55 and 75 years old retain commercial value.

So now we know conclusively that Disney owns 2% of the copyrights between 55 and 75 years old.

By the time Congress is through with it...

[twifkak]

It'll be "Copyright will last for 5 months. After that expires, the author must pay $50,000 to renew it, for another 150 years, or eternally, whichever's longer."

Re:We need a few congressmen in our pocket

[retto]

how come the bad guys are smart enough to heavily influence politics with their money but the good guys aren't?

Because people keep giving the 'bad' guys money. Have you bought a CD/DVD, gone to see a movie, or bought a book? You've just given money to the 'bad' guys. If you want the EFF to buy off a congressman, send them a $20 check instead of buying a CD. I don't have the figures, but I feel pretty confident that the EFF didn't bring in as much as AOL/TW last year.

Doolittle a valuable ally

[watchful.babbler]

John Doolittle's a major player on the Hill -- one of the uncompromisingly conservative young turks in the mid-nineties, he's forged a close relationship with Tom DeLay and attends the weekly House leadership meetings as secretary.

An uncompromising conservative who has forged a reputation as a reliable ally and savvy lawmaker, he's got a wide net of influence that makes him considerably more powerful than he would seem at first. If anyone can get this thing on the agenda, it's him; his relationship with DeLay and Hastert will ensure that.

With the conservative flank well-protected, it's the Democrats -- who, let's tell a hawk from a handsaw here, have often been craven in their defense of entertainment campaign dollars -- that need to be courted.

Re:What a flawed idea

[the_2nd_coming]

about 9000 books that were writen in the 1930s and have not been in print for about 40 years.

Re:Berne Treaty?

[WarmBoota]

Screw the Berne Treaty

If Bush can decide that he wants to pull out of treaties designed to keep the peace, I have no problem pulling out of treaties designed by corporations to keep the profits.