Interesting article about how Big Content is getting worried enough about copyright skepticism that it's beginning to pay for "law articles" advancing the idea that copyright is a natural right (not just something "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" as the US Constitution has it), that intellectual property should be treated with greater importance than physical property, and that, no matter what else happens, Congress needs to extend copyright terms again before Mickey Mouse starts to fall into the public domain in 2018.
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One of the big problems unfortunately has to do with the lobbying structure. Republicans briefly backed a paper that would have called for copywrite reform, then dropped it when it was confronted. They did this in spite of the fact that Big Media lobbying has never heavily supported them. What are the odds that Democrats, who rely on Big Media for so much in the way of contributions, are likely to oppose them?
I think copywrite law is one of the best examples of a system inherently biased against the individual. Indefinite copywrite is likely to continue, since neither party wants to prioritize it as a battleground. This occurs irrespective of the will of the people or the common good.
It's certainly been an area where the Dems have shamelessly truckled to their big business contributors.
Copyright law, as it stands now, is stacked against the individual. Ironically, it was originally meant as a protection for individuals; the idea of a media conglomerate, or IP vultures, or anything like that was, as far as I can tell, completely unknown to the Founders.
The one difference in this coming Battle Over Mickey is that to continue, Congress will have to take positive action again (to extend copyright). I expect there will be some publicly ruffled feathers over it.
Unfortunately, the realistic analysis is that said individuals with their feathers ruffled probably won't change their voting over it, so why would any politician care?
True enough. It's an irksome issue on many levels, but not as major to me as some others.