Denying The Public Domain Has A Very Real Cost
from the which-should-not-be-ignored dept
One of the problems with copyright extension is that there's rarely anyone to take up the public's side of the argument. After all, in theory, copyright is supposed to be a bargain between the public and content creators, where the creators get a limited monopoly, and the public gets more content added to the public domain in the long run (increasingly getting longer). But, when it comes time for copyright extension debates, the only people heard from tend to be the content creators. The main assumption is often that there's no "cost" to keeping works protected by copyright. In fact politicians have, at times, even argued that copyright doesn't have an impact on price of works, as they argued in favor of copyright extension.Rufus Pollock has now released two new studies on the size and value of the public domain in the EU, which shows that this argument is false. The public domain creates plenty of value and extending copyright does have a very real cost. It's not easy to calculate the specific cost, because the data necessary is not always available, but in areas where Pollock and his collaborators were able to get the necessary data, they showed that there's clearly value created by the public domain -- and we should not ignore that in copyright debates. Separately, the paper on valuing the public domain seems like an excellent one for use in the future in setting up a clear methodology for calculating "value" (as opposed to price) for works under copyright vs. the public domain. Most of the paper is really about the methodology of trying to figure out something that is not easily calculated (value).
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Filed Under: copyright, public domain
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And let's not forget that there'd be a LOT more stuff in the public domain had copyright not been extended in the ridiculous and unfair ways it has been.
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I wonder how much current work would have been made impossible had the above been subject to copyright. A great deal, I would guess - including several major box office successes of recent years.
...and that's just books, of course. Public domain includes everything from every major classical composer and many other musicians, along with movies ranging from Phantom of The Opera and Nosferatu to Night Of The Living Dead and His Girl Friday.
"Worthless junk" compared to Twilight, Battlefield Earth and Gigli? Please...
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You clearly don't know the first thing about what you're talking about.
Last time I looked the copyright status of a work depended only on when it was created or when the creator died. Whether anyone values the work has had no bearing on it's copyright status for many years (since the abolition of the registration and renewal requirements in the US back in the 70's and since the 19th century in Europe).
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Right, so Justin Bieber trumps the entire Project Gutenberg in sheer value. Indeedy...
Next time try being a little more subtle. We can all see the chains to [MP|RI] Ass. of America trailing behind you.
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According to boxofficemojo.com, $1,024,299,291 in international theatrical revenue from just one film, this year alone (Alice In Wonderland) - obviously not counting DVDs and other merchandising.
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Present Copyright Law Is Unconstitutional
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Present Copyright Law Is Unconstitutional
Setting copyright to 35 years means a bare majority of the people can live long enough to see a new work enter the public domain. So any copyright term over 35 years is unconscionable.
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Re: Present Copyright Law Is Unconstitutional
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"content creators" unilaterally *change* the bargain,
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Re: "content creators" unilaterally *change* the bargain,
Theft, and intimidation. They can ruin the little guy just by taking him to court. Tell me that's not F*cked up?
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@13
This too is a lie they perpetuate that piracy or file sharing harms the economy, no it moves the economic wealth from tiny few to more people thus expanding an economy rather then putting wealth in peoples hands that seem to just want to hoard that wealth.
TOP DOWN ECONOMICS HAS FAILED.
IF terms were ten years we would see a HUGE growth world wide and economic return. IF the usa thinks it can control all the IP and the rest of the world get taxed and have a vibrant economy its sorely mistaken, were already starting now to see the cracks in the world and if this egg cracks its gonna be ruff.
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Content Creators?
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They don't understand creativity
You don't just invent a new idea out of thin air, you're always standing on the shoulders of those that came before.
Probably this talk should be compulsory for people making legislation that regulates creativity:
http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_ridley_when_ideas_have_sex.html
There is a reason why Mozart, definitively one of the greatest musicians ever, and probably the most mind-boggling example of human creativity, started his musical career by being a copycat.
All that is new in culture is remix, it has always been.
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