A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
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A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
1–10 of 24 posts
Re: A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
#2great...
however, a more direct example would be mickey mouse...
Re: A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
#3Given other issues floating around maybe rather than go to something as restrictive as what was proposed at the end of the article take a half step.
Leave much of the law today as is (copyrights can apply to more than the original copyright law allowed and are automatically in force even without registering) but change the duration mechanism.
For the first 14 years of the work's existence you get a copyright for free.
For the next 14 years, you can re-register but with a higher but still nominal fee.
For each year after that, you must re-register and the fee goes up at an accelerating rate eventually reaching millions per year per copyrighted item. I'm assuming there would have to be a cap somewhere.
The government gets new revenue, most copyrights are shortened and enter the public domain more quickly and for the copyrights that are extremely valuable and still producing value in excess of the ever increasing registration fee, it will be worthwhile for the holder to pay.
Re: A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
#4If there was a time or an issue that Republicans could stand for and actually be pro-market as they keep saying they are (in theory), it's this one. They'd probably get as much support as they usually get from evangelists, which seems to be their core audience these days, or at least that's how they're acting in public.
Re: A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
#5great... however, a more direct example would be mickey mouse...
Not necessarily. We all understand that Mickey Mouse is owned by Disney. It could be counterintuitive for people who don't often think about copyright to support the idea that Mickey Mouse could be owned by the public, rather than Disney.
The Frost poem was a helpful example.
Re: A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
#6If there was a time or an issue that Republicans could stand for and actually be pro-market as they keep saying they are (in theory), it's this one. They'd probably get as much support as they usually get from evangelists, which seems to be their core audience these days, or at least that's how they're acting in public.
The evangelicals who support the GOP tend to be poor, rural, and of low education. They'll support pretty much any fiscal policies the GOP takes as long as the party adheres to conservative social policies.
Re: A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
#7Given other issues floating around maybe rather than go to something as restrictive as what was proposed at the end of the article take a half step. Leave much of the law today as is (copyrights can apply to more than the original copyright law allowed and are automatically in force even without registering) but change the duration mechanism. For the first 14 years of the work's existence you get a copyright for free…
I don't like this because the amount an entity will pay to keep copyright is roughly proportional to how culturally valuable it is. The more Disney will pay to lock up Mickey Mouse, the more we want the mouse to be free.
Re: A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
#8Given other issues floating around maybe rather than go to something as restrictive as what was proposed at the end of the article take a half step. Leave much of the law today as is (copyrights can apply to more than the original copyright law allowed and are automatically in force even without registering) but change the duration mechanism. For the first 14 years of the work's existence you get a copyright for free…
I don't like this because the amount an entity will pay to keep copyright is roughly proportional to how culturally valuable it is. The more Disney will pay to lock up Mickey Mouse, the more we want the mouse to be free.
Well. You could always let the yearly payment grow uncapped. Assuming it grows faster than the rate of inflation at some point it would almost assuredly be in the interest of any holder to release a copyright.
Another idea. Letting cost rise uncapped would eventually cause any holder to not re-register but is bad for smaller entities that hold copyrights. Capping the long-term re-registration cost while still having a long time limit could be a decent blend.
Mickey Mouse is trademarked which is perpetual so it seems like the copyright on some cartoons would expire but it still wouldn't open the floodgates to any random person making their own Mickey cartoon series as Disney would vigorously enforce their trademark.
Edited: Added another thought. On more edit: Trademark vs. Copyright
Re: A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
#9Given other issues floating around maybe rather than go to something as restrictive as what was proposed at the end of the article take a half step. Leave much of the law today as is (copyrights can apply to more than the original copyright law allowed and are automatically in force even without registering) but change the duration mechanism. For the first 14 years of the work's existence you get a copyright for free…
I don't like this because the amount an entity will pay to keep copyright is roughly proportional to how culturally valuable it is. The more Disney will pay to lock up Mickey Mouse, the more we want the mouse to be free.
If there is no cap on the exponential portion eventually Mickey will be too expensive to protect and he will be free. The result would be the Government capturing all the value in later years and then the work would be freed allowing the public to capture the value.
I think the OP's suggestion is the best I have heard so far. It could be a simple formula like a fee starting at $10/year for each copywrited work after 14 years, then it doubles ever year. By the 24th year you would be looking at paying just over $5,000, but by the 44th year Disney would be paying $5Bn/year. Probably not worth keeping the rights on Mickey for $5Bn/year.
Re: A Free Market Fix for the Copyright Racket
#10great... however, a more direct example would be mickey mouse...
Mickey Mouse is also a trademark of Disney. Using Mickey as an example would confuse the issue.