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US Copyright Law Forces Wikimedia To Remove the Diary of Anne Frank (wikimedia.org)

Today, the Wikimedia Foundation announced its removal of The Diary of Anne Frank from Wikisource, a digital library of free texts. According to the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act, works are protected for 95 years from the date of publication, meaning Wikimedia is not allowed to host a copy of the book before 2042. Rogers, the Legal Counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation, says this is just one of the many examples of the overreach of the United States' current copyright law. He goes on to say, "Our removal serves as an excellent example of why the law should be changed to prevent repeated extensions of copyright terms."

178 comments

  1. Re:it's by lgw · · Score: 3, Funny

    And before any googleclippers respond, "it has" doesn't fucking fit either.

    WTF is a googleclippers?

    Does TFA count as pre-Godwinning the thread?

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  2. Re:it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The possesive form of "it" is "its". They must have meant "its". This is a common mistake.

  3. Re:it's by cheesybagel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I still remember when we were discussing in this very site how the then current copyright length of 80 years was ridiculous. Now its 95? Great.

    Your tax dollars at work here. Coz if I remember correctly revenue from so called 'intellectual property' to royalty lords (not necessarily authors) isn't taxed.

  4. Re:it's by reboot246 · · Score: 0

    I guess grammar is not taught in schools nowadays. Either that or a whole lot of "social promotion" is going on.

    No math, no grammar, no civics, no history . . . . just wtf are they teaching the kids?!?!

    I know, I know!! How to be a SJW! That seems to be the only thing of importance.

  5. Copyright and patent law reform needs to happen. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The alternative is a trolling arms race until the world grinds to a patented halt.

  6. Re:it's by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Copyright protection generally lasts for 70 years after the death of the author. If the work was a "work for hire", then copyright persists for 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever is shorter. For works created before 1978, the copyright duration rules are complicated. However, works created before 1923 have made their way into the public domain.

    So Miss Anne Frank was "hired" to write a diary while she was hidden from the Nazis? Who would have known.

  7. Promotion of the useful arts by JoshuaZ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This makes complete sense. The point of copyright is to make artists confident that they or their immediate heirs will be able to benefit from their works for a limited time. I'm sure that if Anne Frank knew that almost a century after her diary was written it would be available on a global network of electronic devices that hadn't been invented in her lifetime she would not have wrote the diary at all. I'm also sure that if her father had known that he would have definitely refused to publish it.

    1. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by TheReaperD · · Score: 1

      No, it doesn't make sense. Name any other fields other than books, music and movies that you can create one work and potentially not have to work again the rest of your life and the same for your kids and grandkids and possibly even great grandkids because checks keep rolling in from your ancient creation.

      --
      "Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
    2. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by JoshuaZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think you may need to recalibrate your sarcasm detector.

    3. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you may need to replenish the humor supply in your joke maker.

    4. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by TheReaperD · · Score: 0

      Sorry, I haven't slept in two days.

      --
      "Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
    5. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just because an obvious joke isn't funny, doesn't mean it isn't an obvious joke.

    6. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Sarten-X · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Chemistry, software engineering, and whatever led to these things.

      Pretty much, every field has the ability to create multimillionaire success stories, given the right combination of luck, inspiration, and hard work. Of course, it's more difficult to copy the chemistry of dynamite than it is to copy a written work, which is why we still know of Alfred Nobel's work, but very few know about Arthur Brooke, whose most famous work (if it was even his) predates the first copyright law.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    7. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1, Funny

      I haven't slept for a week. Because that would be too long to sleep for.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    8. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The obvious solution is a constitutional amendment that ties the length of a copyright and patent to each other.

    9. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by swb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The problem seems to be that it's not really the artists pushing this, but the media empires that pushes the notion of perpetual, rent-seeking copyrights to shield business models.

      The artist gets trotted out as phony victim of limits on copyright, like a marionette, and we're supposed to feel sorry for them and let the media empires keep finding ways to control all intellectual property forever.

      In terms of performing artists, I think there's also a sense that they're being overcompensated for recordings -- basically a single performance. Historically, performers haven't made fortunes off narrow control of copyrighted material, they've been paid for performing. You strummed your lute at the Ye Olde Pub and collected some farthings. If you were lucky, you played for the court and got some gold coins.

      Whether this is a fair concept or not, it's kind of how performers have been rewarded financially for most of history. Material inventions like dynamite seem to be different than creative performances.

    10. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then go get some sleep and stop fucking around on Slashdot.

    11. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by no-body · · Score: 1

      I think you may need to recalibrate your sarcasm detector.

      It is commonly known that robots/AI/ speech recognition have a hard time with sarcasm - recognizing it, that is. So we are OK here.

    12. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by bug1 · · Score: 1

      The point of copyright is to make artists confident that they or their immediate heirs

      Wrong, Copyright has always been about corporations.

      Your living in a fantasy land.... how much do heirs of artists benefit financially from copyright, and how does that compare to the benefits that go to corporation ?

    13. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by JoeMerchant · · Score: 2

      On a less sarcastic note, I think that perpetual copyright can be a very good thing. Start with "free" copyright for 15 or 20 years, but then, if a work is profitable at that time, charge a nominal fee to extend the copyright for another 5 years - so, if something were written and copyrighted in 1995, it would be protected to say 2015, and if you're still making money on it - register an extension on the copyright, for a fee. You're making money on the work, obviously it's worth it. For works that aren't profitable, they become public domain within a reasonable time frame.

      So, to get to perpetual copyright and true value to society, every additional 5 year extension costs 5x as much as the one before it. $1000 for years 20-25, $5000 more to get to 30, $25,000 more to get to 35, $125,000 to get to 40, etc. If a work is still profitable at 70 years post-authorship, surely the benefactors should be sharing a significant portion ($2B) of the profits back to the society that protects their copyright?

    14. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by gilgongo · · Score: 1

      Hint: they were being sarcastic. They were not meaning their words literally. It is a form of humour. The the fact that you responded without sarcasm now makes it funnier.

      --
      "And the meaning of words; when they cease to function; when will it start worrying you?"
    15. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mitch! You rascal, I thought you were dead.

    16. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by bug1 · · Score: 1

      I'm sure that if Anne Frank knew...

      Read it again;
      If it was sarcasm, they wouldn't have used the "if".

    17. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Writing land deeds to remove land from the commons into private ownership is very profitable and can generate income indefinitely. You do have to do some maintenance though.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    18. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by dryeo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Right at the beginning of modern copyright, beginning of the 18th century, the publishers started on this thing about "for the artist" and even then they paid a tuppence for unlimited rights while going on about the starving artist.
      It was actually the unelected House of Lords that put their foot down, overrode the elected (bribed) House of Commons who were going to make copyright eternal and limited copyright to 14+14 years for the advancement of learning.
      When the first works fell out of copyright they went to the courts claiming copyright was a common law right. Luckily they lost that one.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    19. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Not true, back when modern copyright came to be, the publishers weren't incorporated, more of an exclusive guild, but they knew a good thing, buy the rights to a work for next to nothing and profit forever.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    20. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem seems to be that it's not really the artists pushing this, but the media empires that pushes the notion of perpetual, rent-seeking copyrights to shield business models.

      It's in the name - it's copyright, not creationright. It rewards those in a position to copy lots such as distributors and marketers, not creators.

      The vast majority of creators get chickenfeed. Any creator who doesn't behave gets shunted aside by the distributors for somebody who will. They have millions of creators out of a population of billions to choose from.

    21. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Free Mickey Mouse! Free Mickey Mouse! Free Mickey Mouse! Let our Pluto go!

    22. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by sjames · · Score: 1

      If you invent dynamite, you'll get 20 years of protection. If you write a book about dynamite, you get protection for the age of Mickey Mouse plus 1 year.

    23. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Well, at least we in the USA can still read Mein Kampf.

    24. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Originally it was to help enable censorship.

    25. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Let our Pluto go!

      Let our Pluto go in an elliptical orbit, just like a real planet.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    26. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by HiThere · · Score: 1

      I sort of like that idea, but would modify it.

      Copyright is for 5 years and is infinitely renewable. Each issuance or renewal of the copyright costs 2^n * $1 where n is the number of renewals. (I.e., the initial issue costs $1, the first renewal $2, etc.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    27. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      The numbers work nicely starting at 1, but I see no reason to have people process the paperwork (even when no actual paper is involved) until a significant sum is changing hands. Similar logic for 5 year extensions instead of 1 year extensions.

    28. Re:Promotion of the useful arts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This makes complete sense. The point of copyright is to make artists confident that they or their immediate heirs will be able to benefit from their works for a limited time. I'm sure that if Anne Frank knew that almost a century after her diary was written it would be available on a global network of electronic devices that hadn't been invented in her lifetime she would not have wrote the diary at all. I'm also sure that if her father had known that he would have definitely refused to publish it.

      ROFF, STANDING UP; LMAO AGAIN.

  8. Re:it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd replace the "it's" with the definite article "the".

    CAP === 'classify'

  9. Why doesn't wikimedia foundation move by presidenteloco · · Score: 1

    and register itself as a non-profit organization in, oh I don't know, the Bahamas, or Liberia, or somewhere other than big-brotherland where it currently lives.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    1. Re:Why doesn't wikimedia foundation move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or at least move to somewhere else in the US. I won't donate to them anymore because they have their offices in the 2nd most expensive city in the US. I don't want all my donation dollars going towards their rent.

  10. Re:it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If I remember correctly, the common version of the diary is an edited version of the original. That is why it is copyrighted. The original isn't iirc.

  11. 1976 Copyright Act by PPH · · Score: 4, Informative

    But Anne Frank's Diary was published in 1947. Extending that copyright beyond the term in effect at the time it was published is a violation of the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws.

    But then, IANAL and the Supreme Court would probably be overruled by Mickey Mouse anyway.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:1976 Copyright Act by JoshuaZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Court already ruled essentially in Eldred https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldred_v._Ashcroft that copyright can make public domain works return to being copyrighted.

    2. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, that certainly is not true. ex post facto laws criminalize acts that were not criminal acts when they occurred. What that means is that if the book was out of copyright at some point, and then at some later point the copyright law was changed and the duration extended, people that used the work during the time it was not under copyright could not be retroactively be prosecuted. It does not mean that people that use the work after the change cannot be prosecuted. Ex post facto does not mean a law cannot ever be modified.

    3. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ex Post Facto applies to committing an offense. If today you were to distribute copies Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which was published in 1885, you wouldn't be committing an offense. If the law changed tomorrow to extend copyright going back to 1880, you couldn't be prosecuted for what you did today. However, if you continued to distribute it after the law changed to cover the book, then the new action would be a violation of copyright law, and could be prosecuted.

    4. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Qzukk · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's long been held that "ex post facto" only considers what the law is at the time the government claims you broke it. That's how the government tends to ban things, by outlawing "possession" rather than sale or creation. If you bought something legally that the government then bans, if you are possessing it then you're breaking the possession law right now, and ex post facto does not apply.

      Therefore if you make a copy right now of some item whose copyright term was extended, you're breaking the current law right now.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    5. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Diddlbiker · · Score: 1

      Well speaking of Mickey Mouse, it will never leave copyright in the US, as it was published after Mickey hit the market. It's rather naive to think that it will be released to the public domain in 2042, as before that time the copyright act will be changed (as it is every 25 years) to extend copyright to 100 years after publication.

      After all, we can't have any of Disney's movies enter into the public domain!

    6. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      Changing something that hasn't happened yet isn't prohibited.

      If a work entered public domain, and someone published it as such, then a copyright extension put it back under protection, the public-domain publisher could not be sued for infringement during the time that the work was in the public domain. If they keep publishing it once it was protected again, that'd be a separate offense.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    7. Re:1976 Copyright Act by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 1

      Your Wikipedia article says in so many words that the ex post facto prohibition only applies to criminal cases:

      Over the years, when deciding ex post facto cases, the United States Supreme Court has referred repeatedly to its ruling in Calder v. Bull, in which Justice Samuel Chase held that the prohibition applied only to criminal matters, not civil matters.

    8. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm failing to see how a, dutch document is subject to US Copyright law. The translation? Sure. That I could see as falling to this. But the original dutch document, and its reference and content within the US? Unless the dutch are complaining, and forced this, this is absolutely assanine.

    9. Re:1976 Copyright Act by JoeMerchant · · Score: 4, Informative

      I think on the timeline of: A - Copyrighted, B - Copyright expired, C - Copyright extended by new law, violations of copyright between B and C are protected by ex post facto considerations, but copyright violations after time C are in violation of the law passed at that time, and therefore no longer ex post facto.

    10. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair, Mickey Mouse also has the issue of being a trademark.

    11. Re:1976 Copyright Act by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Which is one reason why there is so much effort to get copyright violations treated as criminal matters. We've even seen paramilitary responses over copyright violations with DVD-Jon, Kim Dotcom and others - it's ridiculous especially in the first case. What was DVD-Jon going to do, throw his schoolbag at someone turning up to serve a summons?

    12. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ex post facto clauses in the U.S. constitution only apply to criminal law. This is the long standing interpretation since the famous 1798 case of Calder v. Bull. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calder_v._Bull.

      Because they only apply to criminal laws, you can still be sued for actions which at the time were not per se unlawful. For example, a state legislature could pass a law changing the effect of some term of a contract, after which you could be sued for breach of contract. If you killed someone, the new law could make you liable for wrongful death.

      A much more common case would be various consumer protection laws. A new consumer protection law might make a corporation liable for actions committed before the passage of the law. That could open the door to a class action suit. In some cases it might provide leverage for a regulatory agency to extract a fine out of the corporation. A straight-up fine would probably be considered criminal and prohibited. But there are various ways a regulatory agency could still use it as leverage to effectively impose a fine on the behavior. For example, a regulatory agency might have the power to shield a company from a suit, and it could refrain from shielding the company unless it made a "donation". Likewise, an agency could threaten to impose a hefty fine for some minor violation that would otherwise be ignored, and might even be able to justify the amount of the fine at least partly on the basis of the newly-illegal prior conduct.

      In the case of copyright, if a copyright lapsed but was restored by legislation, you wouldn't be liable for any infringement that occurred during the lapse. (Either because of due process concerns, or by implicating the Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment.) But in the case of something like distribution (and maybe even inducement), the infringement could be construed as continuing into the new term of the copyright, in which case both civil and criminal liability could be found.

    13. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But who said i copied a copyrighted item? If there were 'freed' copies made, those must be free (public domain) forever. I must be allowed to copy public domain.

    14. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I mentioned this earlier...Free Mickey Mouse! FREE MICKEY MOUSE!!!

    15. Re:1976 Copyright Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's long been held that "ex post facto" only considers what the law is at the time the government claims you broke it.

      Here in Europe, the "no ex post facto" in criminal law means that the law is considered only at the time of the act, not at the time of any claims related to it. Are you sure you didn't mean this interpretation instead? Copyright related claims for compensation are mostly not done under criminal law but under civil law.

  12. small but significant detail. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    It is the Dutch version they removed. According to Dutch copyright it is in the public domain now. (70 years after the death of the author) Although, because is money to be made, this is also contested.

  13. Re: it's by guruevi · · Score: 0

    From what I understand, the diary as published wasn't written by Anne but by her father largely/loosely based on her diary. Her father subsequently published "Anne Frank's Diary" years later with the Anne part being mostly emotional marketing. It wasn't "Diary" authored by Anne Frank; it was "Anne Frank's Diary" by Otto Frank. He also re-published editions a few times as necessary to extend copyrights or refresh the market; real diaries don't have multiple editions.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  14. misread title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I first misread it as Dirty Anne Frank and through it was a reference to some of the lesser known and more intimate passages only.

  15. Wikimedia by 110010001000 · · Score: 0

    Those people sure are good at making millions off of other peoples content. They should focus on content that the rights holders want to be free.

    1. Re:Wikimedia by dryeo · · Score: 2

      Under Dutch law and many other countries laws, it is public domain, or do you think that Anne Frank needs the money?

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
  16. 2042 we hope the mouse needs more time real soon by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    2042 we hope the mouse needs more time real soon and that can get pushed back to 2050 or maybe even 2100

  17. Remove Adolf Hitler from Wiki and YouTube Copright by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I had video in colour of Adolf Hitler made by Eva Brown. YouTube says it is copyright infringement but doesn't remove it. It is claimed to be owned by a company in England. If I was exterminated today my diary could not be published for 95 years. Copyright laws can be easily used to hide an ugly part of history. In our country it is standard procedure to put people away and silence them for 70 years after death because of copyright law.

  18. Damn government censors again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What do they plan to censor next? 1984? Mein Kampf? The Handmaid's Tale? The Red Book? The Iron Heel? Dreams from my Mother? It Can't Happen Here? Primary Colors? The Grasshopper Lies Heavy?

    Will their tyranny ever end?

    1. Re: Damn government censors again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The state can copyright everything and anything. Mein Kampf here is state property and forbidden by copyright law. I also recommend to not have a Bible if one visits Arabia if you understand.

    2. Re:Damn government censors again! by HiThere · · Score: 1

      This particular case is not about censorship. "The Diary of Anne Frank" is readily available if you buy it. This particular case is about money.

      That said, this law, and other similar laws, are enablers of censorship. Any law that allows someone other than the author to withhold public availability of a work is an enabler of censorship.

      THAT said, this is not an argument either for or against this particular law. I've made that in other places. This is an argument in favor of thinking clearly about what one is favoring or opposed to.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  19. Re:it's by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    *sigh*

    Googleclipper:
    "Someone who reads a post and understands a majority of the words, a minority of the sentences, none of the nuance and less still of the context; and then proceeds to type a word or two into Google and copy-paste the first result that comes up".

    E.A.Blair, "Are the kids today utter shitcocks or what?" in "As I please", 1943-1945.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  20. Re:it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of course it's not and the same crooked assholes, er politicians, who keep extending the law are either benefiting directly or indirectly from such revenue.

  21. Re:it's by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

    The possesive form of "it" is "its". They must have meant "its". This is a common mistake.

    Indeed, its is so possessive...
    How possessive is its?
    Its not only wants its apostrophe, its wants all its s's in possessive!

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  22. Re:2042 we hope the mouse needs more time real soo by TheReaperD · · Score: 1

    Or, who knows, they may even be able to pass the "forever less one day" proposal. (Yes, a former MPAA president actually wanted to do this.)

    --
    "Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
  23. Not exactly. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The point of copyright law is to ensure that rights-holders can profit from zero-production-cost items for as long as possible (ideally, indefinitely). The notion of it providing an economic incentive to produce such works is a concern, but it is a lesser concern.

    I realize that isn't how it should be. But facts don't care about "should"s.

    The rights holders for the Diary of Anne Frank are probably reading Rogers' comments and thinking "fuck you, pay me." And that goes for everyone who wants to read the diary...the rights holders want you to pay for it, and they have no qualms about using the legal system to force the money out of you.

  24. Re:Remove Adolf Hitler from Wiki and YouTube Copri by jtara · · Score: 1

    If I was exterminated today my diary could not be published for 95 years.

    No, that's utter rubbish.

    The legal holder of the copyright would have exclusive control for 95 years.

    That might be some assignee that you sold right to, your heirs, etc. etc.

    Nobody is being denied reading The Diary of Ann Frank. You can buy it on Amazon. Or in probably any of the remaining walk-in bookstores.

    http://www.amazon.com/Diary-An...

    While, yes, a copyright holder might without a work from the market for some political or other nefarious purpose, you've chosen a poor example. And, the sad fact is, most unavailable works are unavailable through neglect or disinterest on the part of the copyright holder, not willful withholding from the market.

  25. Mooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So Mein Kampf is not protected by US copyright, but Anne Frank's diary is.

    1. Re: Mooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The state owns the copyrights. Here in this country Mein Kampf is forbidden to read. In your country it probably is legal.

    2. Re: Mooo by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Which country do you refer to? It's not illegal to own or read in Germany...

  26. What do you think of the show so far? by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

    she would not have wrote the diary at all.

    Possibly not, but it wouldn't stop Ernie Wise.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  27. Why many people have no respect for copyright law. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    More will respect the implementation of copyright law as soon as that implementation respects the original intent of copyright law.

    If the implementation goes contrary to it's original intent and is disrespectful to the culture of the american people, it is our civic duty to go against it and fight for it to change whenever possible.

  28. Re: Remove Adolf Hitler from Wiki and YouTube Copr by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    70 years after ww2 diaries written inside Auschwitz popped up just like that. It was written by a Sondercommando, the people forced to run the gas chambers. There never was a publisher there never was family since it was anonymously written. 70 years before we in modern society gained the right to read the personal diary of someone forced to kill, and in turn be gassed by the next Sondercommando since Sondercommando were gassed themselves every 3 months at most

    The following note was found buried in the Auschwitz crematoria and was written by Zalman Gradowski, a member of the Sonderkommando who was killed in the 7 October 1944 revolt:

            "Dear finder of these notes, I have one request of you, which is, in fact, the practical objective for my writing ... that my days of Hell, that my hopeless tomorrow will find a purpose in the future. I am transmitting only a part of what happened in the Birkenau-Auschwitz Hell. You will realize what reality looked like ... From all this you will have a picture of how our people perished."[27].

    Copyright allows this message written in 1944 to be kept from public for 70yr since is no publisher, there is no survivor.

  29. God Damn It, Anne Frank by Greyfox · · Score: 2, Insightful
    You know who let their thing go to public domain? Hitler. Just sayin'...

    On an editorial note, I would not have read the Diary of Anne Frank had I not been forced to in school, and 30 years of alcohol abuse and Prozac has mostly wiped away most of the memories of the books I was forced to read in school. So if any of my past English teachers are reading, yeah, thanks for that. And also, Herman Melville just wrote all that shit about the whale because he liked to hear himself talk. There. I said it. So whatever. Anne Frank can keep her damn copyright for all I care, and for all the good it'll do her.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    1. Re: God Damn It, Anne Frank by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Goyim, you must remember the 6 million! And pay for the privilege!

    2. Re:God Damn It, Anne Frank by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Not quite so, there was a guy that became a US Senator for California (up until around 1970) who was sued for copyright violations by Hitler before Pearl Harbour.
      However the court action may have been to stop his efforts at showing with Hitler's own words that the Time "Man of the Year" was not so nice a guy as so many were saying. Also funny how being anti-fascist even after the war started in Europe was painted as "unAmerican" later on.

      Guys, please don't reply with a D vs R shitfight since McCarthy and a few others were a cancer out for themselves with little or no respect for the party they were in.

  30. Wrong perspective and approach by Bruce66423 · · Score: 1

    It is the US tail wagging the world's dog - and we need to start rejecting this over-reach. In this case the Wikipedia foundation should be off shore from the US and its servers likewise. The material should be held on the servers and either block access from US based IP addresses for specific material, or have a statement requiring you to identify that you are not violating US copyright law before you get access. All this would require is the database of files held to include fields for the copyright expiry date of the material in different countries.

    Or we can continue to bow before the Empire...

    1. Re:Wrong perspective and approach by ooloorie · · Score: 1

      It is the US tail wagging the world's dog - and we need to start rejecting this over-reach. In this case the Wikipedia foundation should be off shore from the US and its servers likewise.

      What good would that do? Copyright laws in Europe are at least as draconian as in the US, if not more so, and a lot less clear.

      The US at least allows the Wikimedia Foundation to avoid liability by complying with DMCA requests; in Europe, they may well be screwed altogether.

  31. this is not specific to the US by ooloorie · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Anne Frank foundation has been gold-digging in Europe as well: http://www.theguardian.com/boo... This is a world-wide problem, and European publishers, lobbyists, politicians, and authors are just as much to blame for this as Disney and their supporters in Congress, if not more so.

    1. Re:this is not specific to the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There are two foundations, don't confuse them. The Anne Frank Stichting in the Netherlands maintains the Anne Frank Huis. The Anne Frank Fonds in Switzerland has/had the copyright to the diary and uses the income that generates to fund charitable projects. You're talking about the Anne Frank Fonds, but you call it Anne Frank Foundation, which is the name of the other one (stichting == foundation; fonds == fund).

    2. Re:this is not specific to the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What difference does it make? The issue is whether there is some weird problem with US copyright law, and there isn't. What's happening in the US is the same thing that's happening in Europe.

  32. Re:it's by Sax+Russell+5449D29A · · Score: 1

    just wtf are they teaching the kids?!?!

    The important stuff? Like say, Pledge of Aellegiance.

    --
    -SR
  33. NUKETHEUSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    #NUKETHEUSA
      Just do it. The whole world would be better off.

  34. there's more to the world than the USA and Europe by Bruce66423 · · Score: 1

    Find a country with a more reasonable attitude and good internet links. Not necessarily a null set. However that's not the point of my deeper point; the data should be held subject to a person reporting the country they are located in, and the restriction applied at that point. This would only require a country willing to allow this policy.

  35. What kind of . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What kind of Mickey mouse law is this? Ohm wait. It's BECAUSE of Mickey Mouse.

  36. Streisand Effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    magnet:?xt=urn:btih:158EF5CCB81567186E7FD080CB0157F0D527DE72&dn=the+diary+of+a+young+girl+the+definitive+anne+frank+epub&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Fglotorrents.pw%3A6969%2Fannounce

  37. ftg by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    Fuck the government. We're owned, so there's no use trying to fool yourself about it.

  38. a Vaudeville hook for the Vaudeville crook by epine · · Score: 1

    He goes on to say, "Our removal serves as an excellent example of why the law should be changed to prevent repeated extensions of copyright terms."

    Make that retroactive, pretty please, so as to retroactively revoke the ridiculous retroactive extensions.

    The whole thing flies in the face of even libertarian notions of contract: that you only get what you shake for, in the first instance.

    Douglas Adams used to quip "I love deadlines. I love the sound they make as they whoosh past." Market capitalists love markets. They love the sound the rigging makes as it twangs in the salty sea air. "Arrrr, r-r-r-r-retroactively extended copyright. First we shakes, then we takes."

    1. Re:a Vaudeville hook for the Vaudeville crook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you're only half right: capitalists love the market until it bites them on the ass (usually due to their own greed or stupidity) and then they want The Bailout (tm) (r).

  39. Inherited Work by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This makes complete sense. The point of copyright is to make artists confident that they or their immediate heirs will be able to benefit from their works for a limited time.

    This does not make any sense at all. Why should the heirs of the artist be allowed to benefit from the artist's work? No other job provides benefits for heirs after the death of the worker unless that worker has saved some of their income and put it into a suitable savings vehicle.

    Artists should be recompensed under the same set of ideals. Copyright should be a fixed length regardless of the life of the author. This should be long enough that the creator will gain adequate recompense for the work but the current system is ridicuous. Why should a work created by an artist who dies immediately after creating it earn less than a similar work created by an artist who lives for 50 years after creating it?

    With fixed term copyright if the artist dies before the copyright expiration then, and only then, should the heirs inherit the copyright for the remaining term. If the copyright expires before the creator then either they can create more works or they can live off their savings. This is what everyone else has to do so why can't artists work under the same system?

    1. Re:Inherited Work by westlake · · Score: 1

      This does not make any sense at all. Why should the heirs of the artist be allowed to benefit from the artist's work? No other job provides benefits for heirs after the death of the worker unless that worker has saved some of their income and put it into a suitable savings vehicle.

      This is much too narrow a view.

      My father's farm has been in the family for two hundred years. No one has ever questioned a son's right to benefit from his inheritance --- that has always been the whole purpose of the thing. Why should the inheritance of intangible property be treated any differently?

    2. Re:Inherited Work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why should the inheritance of intangible property be treated any differently?

      Because it is not property. It is merely a contract between the society and the artist.

    3. Re:Inherited Work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So your father saved by putting his profit back into the farm by improving it rather than extracting all the money he could from it.

    4. Re: Inherited Work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's all any property ever was. An agreement that you keep "yours" and I keep "mine" and we don't kill each other trying to take each other's stuff. "Property" doesn't really "belong" to anyone except inasmuch as we agree that it does.

    5. Re:Inherited Work by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      And the son pays property tax on it. If they want Intellectual Property to be forever, then let them pay taxes on it.

    6. Re: Inherited Work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ahhhh, you have inherited wealth. THAT explains why you're so contemptuous of the nerd community.

  40. Re: it's by RDW · · Score: 5, Informative

    From what I understand, the diary as published wasn't written by Anne but by her father largely/loosely based on her diary.

    Your understanding is incorrect. There are two versions of the diary in Anne Frank's own handwriting - her original, and a more polished version she edited with a view to post-war publication. Otto Frank assembled the published book from both of Anne Frank's versions, excluding some passages but not adding new material. You can directly compare the three versions line by line in the original Dutch or in English translation in the Critical Editions published by the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation. The words are Anne Frank's, not her father's. He selected from the extant material, but did not re-write or invent.

  41. Pay up or die without reading it, then? by macraig · · Score: 2

    The events in the diary took place decades before I was born, yet I will likely die before I have a chance to read it unencumbered in the public domain? Yeah, that makes sense, especially when the motivation of the diary had nothing at all to do with profit in the first place.

    1. Re:Pay up or die without reading it, then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go to the library.

  42. I have a dream... by slew · · Score: 1

    Oh wait, that's still under copyright too.. Damnit!

  43. It's just ridiculous. .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And what's going to happen the next time mickey mouse's copyright comes up, they'll change the law again and extend it even further. At this rate it'll be 200 years of copyright. Who am I kidding? The way these pricks "play" the game, copyright will be effectively perpetual and many of these works will never, ever enter the public domain.

    Pirate everything. Fuck them, 20 years copyright is more than enough.

  44. Re: it's by porksauce · · Score: 5, Informative

    It was her words, but there were some editorial decisions because: a) she actually wrote two versions, and b) there were some sexually explicit entries in her diary that got left out for the initial publication. Subsequent editions added some of the deleted parts back in. Those later editions are also called Diary of a Young Girl. Here's a good article about it.

  45. Re:2042 we hope the mouse needs more time real soo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Come on now, be fair, is offering a whole day free at least. We not animals, we live in a society and it feels good to give back, once in a while (or in this case once in a 'forever')

  46. Re:there's more to the world than the USA and Euro by ooloorie · · Score: 1

    However that's not the point of my deeper point; the data should be held subject to a person reporting the country they are located in, and the restriction applied at that point. This would only require a country willing to allow this policy.

    Copyright law is governed by international treaties, and most countries are signatories to those treaties. People self-reporting their location isn't going to cut it.

    The few countries that are not subject to such treaties are so poor that they aren't going to waste money on hosting free copies of Anne Franke's diaries. And if they did, publishers would simply get them kicked off the Internet altogether.

  47. Calder v. Bull (1798) by westlake · · Score: 1

    But Anne Frank's Diary was published in 1947. Extending that copyright beyond the term in effect at the time it was published is a violation of the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws.

    The geek remains ignorant of the most fundamental distinctions between civil and criminal law.

    Over the years, when deciding ex post facto cases, the United States Supreme Court has referred repeatedly to its ruling in Calder v. Bull, in which Justice Samuel Chase held that the prohibition applied only to criminal matters, not civil matters...

    Ex post facto law

    Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. 386 (1798) is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court decided four important points of constitutional law.

    First that the ex post facto clause of the United States Constitution only applies to criminal acts, and then only if the law does one of four things: ''1st. Every law that makes an action done before the passing of the law, and which was innocent when done, criminal; and punishes such action. 2d. Every law that aggravates a crime, makes it greater than it was, when committed. 3d. Every law that changes the punishment, and inflicts a greater punishment, than the law annexed to the crime, when committed. 4th. Every law that alters the legal rules of evidence, and receives less, or different, testimony, than the law required at the time of the commission of the offence, in order to convict the offender.'' The decision restates this later as laws ''hat create, or aggregate, the crime; or encrease(sic) the punishment, or change the rules of evidence, for the purpose of conviction.''

    Calfer v. Bull

    1. Re:Calder v. Bull (1798) by dbIII · · Score: 1

      The geek remains ignorant of the most fundamental distinctions between civil and criminal law.

      The copyright lobby is pushing very hard to get criminal law to do their dirty work and the taxpayers to pay for it so that's not unusual. Those stupid advertisements about copyright violation have been deliberately blurring the line for years.

    2. Re:Calder v. Bull (1798) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every time I read an article like this, I get pissed off and my way of calming down is to go pirate some shit. It's my only real way of saying "fuck you" to these greedy industries. And no, simply "not buying their stuff" is not a strong enough message.

  48. Fucking Anne Frank Foundation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    So the fucking asshole Anne Frank Foundation set up originally by her Dad wants to protect their legally unjust monopoly on an important part of human history, even if once again it means genocide and perhaps again against the Jews? Fuck you, Mirjam Pressler. You make me sick you piece of shit.

  49. immediate heirs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This makes complete sense. The point of copyright is to make artists confident that they or their immediate heirs will be able to benefit from their works for a limited time.

    Why should their immediate heirs get anything? They didn't create anything.

    Honest, if you can't make money after 34 years (the original time period in the US of 17+17) you should get the fuck out of way and let the culture take hold of what you've done. 95 years is complete bullshit. The Berne 50 year isn't too bad, but still pushing it.

  50. Excellent point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why should "artists" be able to do that, but not the workers and engineers who worked on a road or bridges? Why can't their descendants collect royalties in perpetuity on their work?

    Because companies have abused copyright law for corporate monopoly and "artists" have got along for a free ride.

    The reason Pressler and the greedy shits at the Anne Frank Foundation are bleeding this for all its worth is because that foundation generates cash and if you look closely you may find that 'charitable foundation' creams some of it off in 'salaries' and 'operational overheads', and they get to choose who receives that 'charitable donation' which won't be a random stranger. It's about the money, people.

    How ironic people can read Hitler's book but not Frank's? Is that what Anne Frank would have wanted? I seriously doubt it. Fuck these greedy shits.

    1. Re:Excellent point by kamapuaa · · Score: 1

      Engineers don't collect royalties on bridges in the first place, unless they have some insane contract. They don't own the bridge, they designed it under contract for people with lots of money (who do own it). The children of the people who own the bridge can, in fact, keep collecting money. The Rockefeller family is still tremendously wealthy.

      Copyrights are legally property, the same as sports cars or collectible stamps or gold bricks or bridges. If the parent dies, he can leave the copyright to his children in his will, same as any other property. This ability to sell the rights to the song is responsible for basically every single piece of culture you enjoy. The Beatles sold the copyright to their music: it wouldn't have been practical for them to sell tapes of their music after their shows. The reason they were able to sell music in the first place was because of the copyright system.

      --
      Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
    2. Re:Excellent point by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      A copyright is just that, it grants YOU the right to make copies. YOU can delegate that to someone else. Certainly once YOU die, your right to makes copies should die as well. There should be a limit, say 20 years for a copyright. After that, it's public domain.

      I agree with the proponents, why should we grant some liberal arts people special privilege? Why are they any better than anyone else? What they did is work. In your analogy, the copy they made for example the first hardback edition is the same as the stamp or gold brick. They can be worth a lot. However the words aren't protected. Even for original editions of works that are not copyrighted. Works that are hundreds of years old. This actually illustrates the point well. If you have the complete first edition of a book, say it's worth $15,000. If there's something missing, for example the dust cover - now it's worth just $1000. Sometimes much less. So obviously the content isn't what mattered.

  51. Isn't it funny by dbIII · · Score: 1

    Isn't it funny how a lot of other things are "grandfathered" in - even electrical safety, but copyright rules are allowed to change everything and take things back out of the public domain.
    I see it as a sign of corruption and the biggest donor being seen as more important than the nation itself.

  52. Forget Mickey Mouse. by westlake · · Score: 1

    Well speaking of Mickey Mouse...

    Forget Mickey Mouse.

    The expiration of the copyright on Steamboat Willie gives you the right to produce derivatives based on Steamboat Willie and only Steamboat Willie. Eight minutes of silent-era sight gags with a synchronized sound track and a thin narrative thread. Walt Disney Animation Studios' Steamboat Willie

    The character designs --- which is what the geek really wants --- are trademarked, and without them you do not have the Mouse in any recognizable form.

    Mickey Mouse appears as a character in over 200 films, videos, and video games --- and god alone knows how often in other media. Mickey Mouse (Character) You would have a hell of time coming up with an original --- non-infringing --- story for the Mouse.

    or for any of the other franchised Disney characters.

    1. Re:Forget Mickey Mouse. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and your corpse would never be found if you did and tried to charge $ for it.

  53. Israelis should read it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And maybe then they will not treat the Palestinians with such cruelty.

    1. Re:Israelis should read it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes!

  54. Re: it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Meanwhile, aren't asshole politicians using copyright music during their campaigning, even against the express desires of the artists?

  55. "Real diaries don't have multiple editions." by westlake · · Score: 1

    real diaries don't have multiple editions.

    Not true.

    Mary Chesnut used her diary and notes to work toward a final version in 1881 --- 1884. Based on her drafts, historians do not believe she was finished with her work. Because Chesnut had no children, before her death she gave her diary to her closest friend Isabella D. Martin and urged her to have it published. The diary was first published in 1905 as a heavily edited and abridged edition. Ben Ames Williams' 1949 version was described as more readable, but sacrificing historical reliability and many of Chesnut's literary references. The 1981 version by C. Vann Woodward retained more of her original work, provides an overview of her life and society in the introduction, and was annotated to identify fully the large cast of characters, places and events.

    Mary Boykin Chesnut

  56. Re:it's by dryeo · · Score: 5, Funny

    95 years when the copyright is owned by a corporation IIRC, and face it, without that 95 year protection, Anne would never have written her diary due to lack of motivation.

    --
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
  57. Re: it's by dryeo · · Score: 2

    Meanwhile, aren't asshole politicians using copyright music during their campaigning, even against the express desires of the artists?

    I heard one musician, think it was Randy Bachman, bitching because not only do they use his music (Taking Care of Business) without permission but then the campaign organization, who are responsible for all the shit that happens such as pirating music against the express wishes of the rights owner, goes bankrupt and is dissolved so there isn't even anyone to sue.
    One law for us and no law for them

    --
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
  58. Re: it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Turns out you only need permission from the company with distribution rights, not the artist themselves.

  59. Just when I thought... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So the historical lessons warning about oppression offered by a young girl, caring not for copywrite bullshit or profit are trumped by grammar nazis.

    I am now ashamed to be human.

  60. Re:it's by trabby · · Score: 4, Informative

    Blame the mouse house. Disney keeps lobbying for extensions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  61. Hogwash because of time value of money by Etherwalk · · Score: 2

    This makes complete sense. The point of copyright is to make artists confident that they or their immediate heirs will be able to benefit from their works for a limited time. I'm sure that if Anne Frank knew that almost a century after her diary was written it would be available on a global network of electronic devices that hadn't been invented in her lifetime she would not have wrote the diary at all. I'm also sure that if her father had known that he would have definitely refused to publish it.

    The 95-year copyright term is a joke. You say, "The point of copyright is to make artists confident that they or their immediate heirs will be able to benefit from their works for a limited time..." That's not correct. The point of copyright is to encourage creation by giving artists the ability to earn a return on their investment of time, effort, and sometimes money.

    But the time value of money means that almost all of the value of a work will occur within the first twenty to thirty years.

    1. Re:Hogwash because of time value of money by HiThere · · Score: 1

      There are exceptions. I think Tolkien was one. But you are generally correct. However extended copyrights allow for derivative works to have considerably broader protection than if the copyright were not extended. Consider any series of books by an author...especially those by "house names", e.g. the Tom Swift series. They've now faded into irrelevance, but the "house name" that wrote the series was allowed to keep the entire cast of characters and environment under copyright for considerably over 20 years. Or the E.E.Smith Lensman series. They got started in the 1930's, I think, and continued up into the 1950's.

      Please note that this has both its good and bad points. It allows the copyright holder to maintain the "purity" of the series...which has both good and bad aspects. Consider the problems of doing a "shared worlds" series where not everyone has even read the background notes.

      So there is value in extended copyrights...but not enough. And the downsides can be quite obnoxious.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  62. Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm sure glad Anne will continue to benefit from the sale of her diaries.

    Oh wait...

  63. Folks, remember TTIP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you don't want even more of this shit (via law laundering), JUST SAY NO TO TTIP.

    It'll be picking the worst laws from both sides and smearing them all around the place. Copyright == death+95 in Europe? Yessir! And at the next turn of the mickey mouse screw? Yessir!

    Big media houses in EU are just... jerking off at this thought.

    This is a preview.

    TTIP: JUST SAY NO.

  64. Copyright should be perpetual by master_p · · Score: 1

    Copyright should be perpetual.

    If one finds a piece of work interesting and wants to work with it, I see no reason why the intellectual property owner shouldn't be compensated. After all, the onwer has created value that has long last appeal.

    1. Re:Copyright should be perpetual by Sneftel · · Score: 1

      Are you suggesting we dig up Anne Frank and throw some money into her coffin? I have mixed feelings about that.

      --
      The opinions stated herein do not necessarily represent those of anybody at all. Deal with it.
    2. Re:Copyright should be perpetual by night_flyer · · Score: 1

      Im ok with a copyright being perpetual, but you have to pay to keep it...every 7 years you get a bill and that bill goes up exponentially, so by the time 70 years rolls around you have to pay 7 million to keep it... that will allow all sorts of abandoned works to go into the public domain while keeping certain others... like mickey mouse under protection

      --


      Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
      Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
    3. Re:Copyright should be perpetual by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      She most likely doesn't have a coffin... it's not known when exactly she died, or where she's buried, which is probably in a mass grave.

    4. Re:Copyright should be perpetual by djinn6 · · Score: 1

      Not everything with value has to be compensated for. There are plenty of thoughts and ideas we use everyday that we use for free. Consider this: Do you live in a democracy? If so, did you pay the Greeks for their invention? I see you're using English. Did you pay the English for their language? And how do you pay for things anyways? Is it through a bank? If so, did you give the Assyrians a cut? Or do you use paper bills? If so, the Chinese would like a share.

      Why don't we pay for any of that? The answer is simple: Why should we?

    5. Re:Copyright should be perpetual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She lies somewhere in a more-than-20-meter-thick smear of ash and cinders.

      Keep that in mind, won't you?

  65. Re: it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > Turns out you only need permission from the company with distribution rights, not the artist themselves.

    Copyright seems not to protect the author, but corporations.

    Patents now also don't protect the inventor, but rather some corporations.

    The worse part is having to hear that litany about capitalism being good, when it's carefully avoided by said corporations...

  66. Nobody forces anyone to host in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you host where corporate totalitarianism and oligarchy rules, what do you expect?

  67. "ex post facto" by l2718 · · Score: 1

    This refer to criminal laws. The really question is how retroactive extension of copyright could possibly "promote the progress of science and useful arts".

  68. OK, I'll do it by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Copyright holders are worse than the Nazis!

    Can we go home now?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  69. Right of Inheritance is a Right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have the Right to leave my property to my heirs, including my intellectual property. They are then conferred the same rights to that property that I had. This includes copyrighted works.

    If anything, Copyright protection should survive for as long as there are heirs to the property, without limitation. They have a right to that property, including the right to profit from it.

  70. The removal serves as an excellent example by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    of why something like Wikipedia and Wikimedia can not be properly housed in the U.S.

  71. Re:it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes. The result of us not being able to read the diaries turns us all into insensitive Nazis. DMCA turns people into Nazis! Yes, you read it first right here.

  72. Re: it's by wvmarle · · Score: 1

    From what I understand, the diary as published wasn't written by Anne but by her father largely/loosely based on her diary.

    Your understanding is incorrect. There are two versions of the diary in Anne Frank's own handwriting - her original, and a more polished version she edited with a view to post-war publication.

    That can never have happened, as Anne didn't even survive the war. She died in Feb or Mar '45 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. That was her father doing the edits.

  73. Re: it's by wvmarle · · Score: 1

    I hope you do realise that neither of those versions is original. They are translations.

  74. Re: it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What, a girl can't imagine her diary being published after the war?

    All it would take is one example from WW1, and she would even have an immediate example to use.

    She just didn't survive to edit it post-war.

  75. But USA doesn't own copyright to this faked diary! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's owned by her dutch estate, some 4000 miles away from U.S. mainland, Newfoundland and Halifax not counting in. And dutch copyright timetable is different from the U.S.'s one! And on top of it, half of her diary was written and annotated by her own very uncle after the war!

  76. Re: it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was her step-uncle, who is not even her own direct uncle. What a pile of rubbish! (—Written by someone living in Amsterdam, cca. 400 meters from her house.)

  77. Re:it's by currently_awake · · Score: 1

    Copyright should be a fixed term, not based on the authors lifespan. Why should the works of a child be more valuable than those of an old man?

  78. Re: it's by SylvesterTheCat · · Score: 1

    Meanwhile, aren't asshole politicians using copyright music during their campaigning, even against the express desires of the artists?

    That depends. If an artist signs a contract with distributer xyz (not sure if that if the correct term for the industry) and xyz sells / licenses usage of the catalog of artist's music to someone, I would assume the artist loses the ability to approve / deny usage of their music. It depends on the terms of the different contracts.

    If an artist doesn't want to lose control of the usage of their product (music), they need to either have terms that allow them some control or just not sign the contract. Of course, they would also lose the revenue.

    Unless your contract allows control, you cannot have it both ways.

  79. Re: it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then maybe the author shouldn't sign a contract that provides compensation for relinquishing those rights?

    Then maybe the person doing the work necessary to develop the patent should have done so on their own, not while being paid by a corporation to do the work?

  80. obviously just another... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    attempt to erase the holocaust.

  81. Re: it's by SylvesterTheCat · · Score: 1

    Patents now also don't protect the inventor, but rather some corporations.

    The worse part is having to hear that litany about capitalism being good, when it's carefully avoided by said corporations...

    First, it's not a matter of patent. It's copyright. There is a big difference.
    Second, the artist had the "protection" up to the point where they signed to contract to allow the distribution. If the artist is getting paid for use of their product (music, in this case) and the terms do not give them the ability to control to whom the usage is sold, then they have nothing to say about the usage.

    Capitalism is good. The artist got / gets revenue for usage of their product in exchange for giving up some level of control. The level of control is determined by the contract which they signed. They had a choice; sign, don't sign, or negotiate to get the level of control they want.

  82. Re: it's by SylvesterTheCat · · Score: 1

    crap... i screwed up the quoting.
    The first two lines were supposed to be a quote from the parent. My bad.

  83. Re:it's by doccus · · Score: 1

    Anne Franke must surely be turning in her grave. She would have wanted it to be publicly available. Does the actual author have absolutely no say? How is it restrictive copyright is assumed if there is nobody to benefit from such restrictive regulation? Just WHOSE rights are they protecting in that event?

  84. Re: it's by doccus · · Score: 1

    > Turns out you only need permission from the company with distribution rights, not the artist themselves.

    Copyright seems not to protect the author, but corporations.

    Patents now also don't protect the inventor, but rather some corporations.

    The worse part is having to hear that litany about capitalism being good, when it's carefully avoided by said corporations...

    The entire industry exists to feed the hyenas at the top.. preferably with meat from the carcass of the discarded artists...

  85. Re: it's by doccus · · Score: 1

    The artists usually has absolutely NO idea during signing of the actual terms and / or the duplicity of the label. Plus they're usually broke stoned and in need of money and management.. all of which are promised if they just hand over publishing. Most artists aren't particularly good lawyers or accountants etc. Some are. They become super wealthy. Most live on( and carelessly blow) their advance and are dropped before they can ever hope to repay that amount. That they still owe back...

  86. Re:it's by lucien86 · · Score: 1

    Figures. The DCMA people are Nazis and Nazism spreads like a disease..

    --
    Below the speed of light Special Relativity is one of the most accurate theories in physics - above the speed of light..
  87. us copyright law is illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    US Copyright law, like US patent law, and so many other areas of US law, is illegal in its current form.

    It contains many avoidable elements that create an artificial demand for the services of legal professionals, and as such violates the right to ethical practice of law, arising under the 9th Amendment. This has been discussed in great detail previously on Slashdot, so there's no reason to belabor the point.

    No entity of government can authorize the government to violate the Bill of Rights, the highest law in the land. It is unethical practice of law for lawyers to acknowledge anything to the contrary.

    When is the US legal profession going to figure out that enforcement of illegal laws violates the law? Are the lessons of Nuremberg so hard to understand?

  88. Re:it's by srmalloy · · Score: 1

    Basing it on the author's lifespan isn't the issue, nor is extending the copyright period itself. What is wrong with the way that copyright has been extended is that the changes are retroactive. Copyright is, in essence, a contract between the creator of a work and the government, stating that for X period of time, the government will provide a mechanism under the law for the creator to enforce their control over the replication of their work, in exchange for releasing it to the public after that period. The government changing the period of copyright retroactively is changing the terms of a contract after the contract has been agreed to, and thereby committing a tort upon the citizenry by depriving them of their expectation of works entering the public domain under the terms of the copyright at the time of the work's creation.

  89. Here's another point of view by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck the people.

    The People elected Hitler, and let him start that shit. And he was already shown to be a huge asshole as early as 1933, and nobody did shit.

    As for the other countries, remember the SS St Louis?

    So yea, Anne Franks heirs deserve all the fucking money they are legally entitled to. And fuck those who are trying to continue to cheat her even after her death, she was cheated of life, can't the cheating fucking stop?

  90. Re: it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please reread the post. He's not wrong.

    "...she edited with a view to post-war publication."

    You don't think the guy knows that she died in a concentration camp?

  91. Re:Why many people have no respect for copyright l by HiThere · · Score: 1

    You are assuming what the original purpose of the copyright law was. There is evidence to suggest that it was always about allowing an elite to control the distribution of works for financial gain...and by elite I do not mean the authors. I'd say media companies, but that would create an improper impression, as originally the works were all printed. (Well, there were also laws about what the bards were allowed to sing, different in different countries and times, but that was not usually for financial gain.)

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  92. By all means discourage people from reading it. by Kernel+Kurtz · · Score: 1

    Nothing to be learned from it anyway. Should lock it up forever. (cough)

  93. Re: it's by RDW · · Score: 1

    As noted above, she was dreaming of the post-war future, though of course she never saw it. Her revision was prompted by a 'Radio Orange' radio broadcast from an exiled Dutch Government Minister in London, suggesting that wartime diaries and documents would be preserved after the Liberation as a record for future generations. But she can hardly have imagined that hers would become the most famous of all diaries of the Occupation.

  94. Wrong Comparison by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

    Why should the inheritance of intangible property be treated any differently?

    You are making the wrong comparison. Intangible "property" is not property in the real world in which we live, it is simply an artificial legal construct which society created so that artists can make money from their work. If we started thinking about it as a way to reward for work instead of as property we would have a far better system.

  95. Re: it's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...she edited with a view to post-war publication.

    You need to brush up on the reading comprehension.

  96. Who Cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The book is a fraud anyway.

  97. Re: it's by Maritz · · Score: 1

    This is going to blow your mind - Anne Frank did not know that she wasn't going to survive the war.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.