[IP] Re: Extending copyright to last forever?

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Roland Cole <cole@spi.org>
Date: May 20, 2007 4:43:57 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: RE: [IP] Extending copyright to last forever?
Reply-To: cole@spi.org

I have taught Copyright Law at a Law School. I am NOT in the "copyright
forever" camp. My biggest concern is not what the lawyers call "literal
copying" (as when someone makes exact digital copies of a sound  
recording),
but when the second author is deemed guilty of an "adaptation" or
"substantial similarity." Having copyright for a long time would be less
problematic if modern application does not also expand its scope.

Much of Disney's material would run afoul of forever copyright.  
Remember,
George Harrison was deemed guilty for repeating a standard 3 or 4 note
sequence and thus making "My Sweet Lord" substantially similar to  
"He's So
Fine." The "He's So Fine" crowd did not even have to prove that  
Harrison had
ever seen the sheet music or heard the song -- because it was  
popular, it
was assumed he had heard it.

How would Mr. Halperin like to be guilty of copyright violation  
because he
used the phrase "they are allowed to flow from one generation to the  
next"
and while the copyright office says short phrases themselves are not  
subject
to copyright, at least one court has held that a single note worth of  
sound
was too much for a second recording artist to copy.

Also, he is not the first person to call for permanent copyright. He
mentions the difference between idea and expression, but as observers of
recent court cases can attest, even a little bit of exact match may  
lead a
court to call a second work either substantial similar to the first  
or an
adaptation of it. At least if the copyright in the first work has  
expired,
the second author is saved that risk.

I am sympathetic to authors getting a better cut vis-à-vis  
publishers, but
do not think that making the copyright term longer will have much if any
effect on that division.

Rollie Cole


Roland J. Cole, J.D., Ph.D.
Director of Technology Policy
Sagamore Institute for Policy Research
340 West Michigan, Canal Suite B
INDIANAPOLIS IN 46202
317-727-8940; rollie@sipr.org; www.sipr.org

-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave@farber.net]
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 3:42 PM
To: ip@v2.listbox.com
Subject: [IP] Extending copyright to last forever?



Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Date: May 20, 2007 10:30:48 AM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Cc: lauren@vortex.com
Subject: Extending copyright to last forever?


Dave,

Must read -- but take your blood pressure medication first -- is a  
NYT op-ed
from Mark Helprin (a fellow at the Claremont Institute) who proposes
Congress extend copyright "as far as it can throw"
(ideally he says extending it forever if the pesky Constitution  
didn't get
in the way).

I don't know if he's really serious or merely some sort of agent  
provocateur
trying to whip people into a frenzy, but he's certainly useful as a  
reminder
that at least ostensibly there are people who do have such views,  
however
ridiculous they may seem to most of us.
I'm assuming that the IP readership tends not to go along with the  
"forever
copyright" concept.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/opinion/20helprin.html

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
    - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co- 
Founder,
IOIC
    - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net  
Founder,
CIFIP
    - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on
Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com




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