Comment Re:Copyright Expiration (Score 1) 407
Corporate authors get 95 years. Individual authors don't get a set term (such as 120 years). Rather, their work is protected for the term of their life, plus 70 years. So in theory, the term could be over 120 years (if I write a book when I'm 25, and live to be 85, my book is protected for 130 years).
This amount of time is completely rediculous, and is only so large because of the large corporations which have a vested interest in keeping rights vested in their intellectual property. The most common theory for intellectual property rights is an incentive-based one. Whether a work will be protected for 70 years, or my life plus 70 years, really isn't going to change my decision to create or not.
Gotta love big business.
This amount of time is completely rediculous, and is only so large because of the large corporations which have a vested interest in keeping rights vested in their intellectual property. The most common theory for intellectual property rights is an incentive-based one. Whether a work will be protected for 70 years, or my life plus 70 years, really isn't going to change my decision to create or not.
Gotta love big business.
