The Public Domain Enhancement Act
Posted by Doug Tue, 03 Jun 2003 18:29:00 GMT
I don’t want to see the public domain disappear. It’s the source of material that we use to cultivate new things from. As it now stands a few (and fewer) companies will end up owning the copyrights forever on our entire culture. Let’s do what we can to prevent this. Eventually things should return to the public. I agree with Lawrance Lessig that $1 is not too much to pay to keep your copyright forever. His proposal is to automatically grant a 50-year copyright term on all new works. At the end of the 50 years you pay $1 to renew it “for however long Congress wants to allow it”. The purpose of this is to return works to the public domain whose authors have abandoned them. It forces authors to consciously acknowlege they have the copyright and want it to continue. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask. Sign the Petition if you agree. Lobbyists for big companies are fighting even this small compromise. Make your voice heard. Tell Congress they don’t speak for you.
