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Canada, Japan Cave On Copyright Term Extension In TPP
An anonymous reader writes Last month, there were several Canadian
media reports on how the work of Ian Fleming, the creator of
James Bond, had entered the public domain. While this was oddly
described as a "copyright quirk", it was no quirk. The term of
copyright in Canada (alongside TPP countries such as Japan and New
Zealand) is presently life of the author plus an additional 50
years, a term that meets the international standard set by the Berne
Convention. Those countries now appear to have caved
to U.S. pressure as there are reports that they have agreed to
extend to life plus 70 years as part of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership.
And you can bet that within a couple years, Disney (and other corporations) will push for another extension. Lord knows, we can't have Mickey Mouse enter the public domain "on schedule" in 2023.
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
I have a better idea... let them have Mickey forever, but make them work for it.
1) All copyrights last for 5 year terms.
2) Works cannot change from copyright to public domain except at the hand-off from one term to the next.
3) Works cannot change from public domain to copyrighted. Ever. Not even for retroactive legislation.
4) First term is automatic and requires no registration. Authors can pre-empt the first term by releasing to the public domain immediately. This essentially causes a change-of-status at the "hand-off" at the beginning of the first term, invalidating the first term.
5) Second and later terms require registration and a fee.
6) Ownership transfers are allowed on registered copyrights only. If an unregistered, first-term copyright is transferred, the registration must occur at time of transfer. At transfer, the remainder of the current, active term is transferred along with the copyright.
7) Remaining portions of terms are never forfeit except under conviction of fraud.
Now Disney can pay $$$ to the government every 5 years to keep Mickey to themselves, and less-interested parties can allow their copyrights to lapse.
This also allows the US to say that copyright can be within 2.5 years of any number anyone else wants to enforce, increasing compatibility with foreign laws, all while increasing personal freedoms.
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