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Alternative 2009 Copyright Expirations

jrincayc writes "It's nearly the end of 2009. If the 1790 copyright maximum term of 28 years was still in effect, everything that had been published by 1981 would be now be in the public domain — like the original Ultima and God Emperor of Dune — and would be available for remixing and mashing up. If the 1909 copyright maximum term of 56 years (if renewed) were still in force, everything published by 1953 would now be in the public domain, freeing The City and the Stars and Forbidden Planet. If the 1976 copyright act term of 75* years (* it's complicated) still applied, everything published by 1934 would now be in the public domain, including Murder on the Orient Express. But thanks to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, nothing in the US will go free until 2018, when 1923 works expire." Assuming Congress doesn't step in with a Copyright Extension Act of 2017. What are the odds?

11 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Sickening by iamapizza · · Score: 5, Funny

    It depends on the contents of your vomit, but yes, I'd imagine it'd be an advancing collection of cultures, from your repository.

    --
    Always proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
  2. Re:What did you expect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    presumably, then, one could simply pass a law stating that copyright shall not expire until the heat death of the universe.

  3. Sonny Bono - I own you babe! by syousef · · Score: 3, Funny

    But thanks to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act

    They say we're young and we don't know.
    Won't be out of copyright till we grow.
    Well I don't know Babe if you think that's true
    But I've got a bill that'll F*** you!

    Babe.
    I own you babe.
    I own you babe.

    They say this music won't pay the rent
    But I'll increase copyright and they'll get bent
    I guess that's so, this song is dross
    But at least I'm sure that I won't make a loss

    Babe.
    I own you babe.
    I own you babe.

    I got money coming in
    And I don't have to do a thing
    And when I'm sad, I'll copyright a clown
    Then laud it over parents all over the town

    Don't let them say your copyright's too long
    Why would I care? I can buy a thousand bongs
    Then put your awful song with mine
    Sit on our backside while our profits climb

    Babe.
    I own you babe.
    I own you babe.

    I got though this song's bland
    I got you, you understand?
    I got you if you walk like that
    I've got you if you talk like that
    I've got you kiss your music goodnight
    I've got you and you know what you can bite
    I got you, I won't let go
    I got you to pay me so

    I own you babe.

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    1. Re:Sonny Bono - I own you babe! by syousef · · Score: 2, Funny

      Did you actually try singing that, or even speaking it out loud? Scansion - look it up.

      Dude it's a joke on an Internet board, and singing it out loud might get me fired. Get a grip.

      --
      These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
  4. God Emperor of Dune? by gzipped_tar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Poor Leto. Killed by *all* those inner voices demanding royalties for the copyright of their memories. Eternal royalties. The Golden Path ends before it could begin.

    --
    Colorless green Cthulhu waits dreaming furiously.
  5. Re:What did you expect? by darthflo · · Score: 4, Funny

    So what they meant was "we couldn't give a shit what the constitution intends[, we're happy to have it's purpose undermined to the point it's hollower than a slice of swiss cheese]".

    Yay for living in Europe, where the spirit of the law still counts for something.

  6. Re:Sickening by Froboz23 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Seriously - there is no justification for extension of copyright being retroactive. People aren't going to be motivated to retroactively create new old works...

    Time Lords need creative incentives too, you insensitive clod!

    --
    Take off every Sig. For great justice.
  7. I almost forgot! by QuoteMstr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dammit. I'd just hit "Submit" when I remembered this sublime article: Nation's Rappers Down to Last Two Samples.

  8. altering the deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.

  9. Re:For fuck's sake! by meringuoid · · Score: 4, Funny
    That is the state of creatives in the year 2010. They honestly can not think of anything new, and only plunder the past for its riches.

    This is why Disney are doing the world a favour by repeatedly buying copyright extensions. It forces people to come up with their own creative original stories - you know, like Disney did - rather than ripping off other people's stories that just happen to be old enough to no longer be protected. Thanks to Disney, creative artists now have the kind of long-term protection that Hans Christian Andersen, Rudyard Kipling and Lewis Carroll never enjoyed, whereas cheap rip-off merchants who only plunder other people's ideas can no longer ply their grimy trade.

    --
    Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
  10. Re:What did you expect? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do you think the European Comission cares about "the spirit" of anything?

    Only if it's of high enough proof.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.