Slashdot Mirror
Sherlock Holmes and the Copyright Tangle
spagiola passes along a New York Times piece on the copyright travails of Sherlock Holmes. "At his age [123 years], Holmes would logically seem to have entered the public domain. But not only is the character still under copyright in the United States, for nearly 80 years he has also been caught in a web of ownership issues so tangled that Professor Moriarty wouldn't have wished them upon him."
for nearly 80 years he has also been caught in a web of ownership
Watson, get me out of this web, for it would appear that the game is afoot!
Entomologically speaking, the spider is not a bug, it's a feature.
Bull. There will never be any reduction in the copyright term, regardless of what arguments you make, until the US government is not owned by the corporations. The copyright term has been set and extended based on what is good for those who lobby. Unless you can convince the copyright loby that a lower term will make their industry more profitable for them (good luck) or prevent them from exerting undue influence on Congress, the only change that will be made will be upwards.
They don't need reasons to keep extending it when they have dollars.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face