Comments on: losing

By: More To Think About

More To Think About — Mon, 17 Nov 2003 00:50:06 +0000

Some more copyright conerns:

Why should everything pre-1710 be copyrighted indefinitely?
Why should The Book Of Mormon (an 1831 bestseller) remain copyrighted until the year 2021?
Wake me when the dominion of Disney, Shakespeare, and MTV over popular culture in this galaxy is broken!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Nov 2003 19:17:19 +0000

PERCEPTION (given in a previous post): Life is a process, not an event.
REALITY: Life is an event, not a process! (Calling something a process DOESN'T automatically make it one!)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Nov 2003 14:17:24 +0000

In 1790, copyright terms 14 years long (28 years for bestsellers). In 1909, copyright terms were extended to 28 years (and 56 years for bestsellers). In 1976, copyright terms were extended to 75 years (and 150 years for bestsellers), AND they were applied retroactively: old copyrights dating back to 1901 were reinstated along with copyrights for bestsellers dating back to 1826. In 1998, copyright terms were extended to 95 years (and 190 years for bestsellers), AND old copyrights dating back to 1903 were reinstated along with copyrights for bestsellers dating back to 1808. With this in mind, there are plenty of questions involved in this copyright debate:

Why should little-known manuscripts which have been out of print since the 12th century BCE face the prospect of being recopyrighted every time Shakespeare's copyright on Romeo & Juliet (which is MUCH OLDER than Disney's copyright on Steamboat Willie) is about to expire?

Why should artificial copyrighted trademarked megacorporations (which are NOT and shouldn't be considered citizens!) try to pressure Congress into making copyright terms last until some time after forever is over?

Why should Harriet Beecher Stowe continue to get paid for writing Uncle Tom's Cabin (an 1851 bestseller) until the year 2041?

How many more times do Shakespeare's works need to be recopyrighted?

Does being required to pay royalties to sing Row-Row-Row Your Boat (or ANY song, for that matter) at a campire make sense?

How ridiculous can copyright terms get!

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 16 Mar 2003 22:31:33 +0000

Clearly a bit over my head, but the kind of reading that makes me think.

By: George Nemeth

George Nemeth — Sat, 18 Jan 2003 08:44:44 +0000

"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo

By: Ka-Ping Yee

Ka-Ping Yee — Sat, 18 Jan 2003 02:36:46 +0000

Larry — I share your pain today.

In my own life, I have also experienced the strain of fighting the battle of reason against overwhelming opposition. I cannot know exactly how you feel, but perhaps I understand a tiny fraction of it.

It was a pleasure to speak to you at the Creative Commons launch.

You are an inspiration to me, and have been an inspiration to many thousands. Please rest now, take some time to take care of yourself, and rest assured that we will redouble our efforts to build a strong and healthy public domain.

Eyes forward!

-- ?!ng

By: George Dafermos

George Dafermos — Fri, 17 Jan 2003 22:03:19 +0000

You should rest assured that you didn't lose. By any means. When all the people I know are adamant that a prolonged copyright regime makes no sense and that everyone I know of is convinced that it's hightime the public 's got control of delicate forms of social and technical ingenuity, then you haven't lost. At first, it dawned on me that your efforts are a true awakening: ownership should remain at the hands of the people and should serve the goals of the people and society. For a man who's having all cyberians by his side and has gained the whole world's undivided attention, you have won. And in my eyes, there is nore respect and encouragement for you now. Don't lose your nerve. We will either fall or stand alltogether. And as long as we keep standing, we haven't lost.

George

By: Stan Krute

Stan Krute — Fri, 17 Jan 2003 20:20:32 +0000

Dear Courageous Anonymous Poster

> don�t get all teary-eyed that the Court
> didn�t rubberstamp your vision of a free-for-all
> on someone else�s property.

You know that this is not what this is about, and
you know that's not what I'm upset about.

> if you want to get that book out of someone
> else�s catalog, pay for the damned thing or hush up

I write books. I publish books. I buy books. So
I'm afraid I won't be able to hush up on any
of those grounds.

I also believe, to paraphrase Rush Limbaugh, that
any gifts of creation that I have are on loan from
a higher power.

As a result of that belief, and the belief that my
creativity is only growing as I age, not diminishing,
I feel quite happy to receive a 14 or 18 or 26 year
copyright, and then have my material enter the
public domain. I'll make my fair return, and then
I'm happy to give back to the remarkable reality
and the particular culture that gave me my gifts
of creativity and the opportunity to make a living off
of them.

And, when it comes time to dance off this mortal
coil, I'll be happy to have the worms take the
lead in returning my material husk to that great
public domain of the soil.

As to protecting the rights of large monied interests
to grab control of the greatest country in the history
of this planet -- been fightin' that for years, and will
continue to do so until the aforementioned worms
get their richly-deserved feast.

/stan

By: Dallis Radamaker

Dallis Radamaker — Fri, 17 Jan 2003 10:35:06 +0000

Thanks for the great work, Prof. Lessig. I think its right that you lost on the constitutional issue (for some of the reasons you yourself suggest in your remarks about Roe v. Wade) but share your concern that the public domain must be better protected in the digital age. Your efforts have played a major role in raising public consciousness in this area, which will now play out in the legislative arena, where it belongs...

By: Jerrod Hansen

Jerrod Hansen — Fri, 17 Jan 2003 06:46:05 +0000

Mr Lessig-

Don't despair. You fought a good fight and while you may have lost among the 7 Justices, you've convinced me of the importance of these issues. I'm doing what I can to raise awareness among my circle of acquaintences and have faith that eventually we'll be able to get things on the right track. As bleak as it is, the Court was right in pointing out that it is *just* a matter of new laws. Big business didn't always own Congress and it is defeatist to assume that they always will. We shall carry on.

Thank you for your constant efforts. We'll do what we can.