From Lawerence Lessig's blog: ] About a month ago, I started sounding optimistic about
] getting a bill introduced into Congress to help right the
] wrong of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. I
] was optimistic because we had found a congressperson who
] was willing to introduce the bill. But after pressure
] from lobbyists, that is no longer clear. And so we need
] help to counter that pressure, and to find a sponsor.
]
] The idea is a simple one: Fifty years after a work has
] been published, the copyright owner must pay a $1
] maintanence fee. If the copyright owner pays the fee,
] then the copyright continues. If the owner fails to pay
] the fee, the work passes into the public domain. Based on
] historical precedent, we expect 98% of copyrighted works
] would pass into the public domain after just 50 years.
] They could keep Mickey for as long as Congress lets them.
] But we would get a public domain.
]
] The need for even this tiny compromise is becoming
] clearer each day. Stanford's library, for example, has
] announced a digitization project to digitize books. They
] have technology that can scan 1,000 pages an hour. They
] are chafing for the opportunity to scan books that are
] no longer commercially available, but that under current
] law remain under copyright. If this proposal passed, 98%
] of books just 50 years old could be scanned and posted
] for free on the Internet.
]
] Stanford is not alone. This has long been a passion of
] Brewster Kahle and his Internet Archive, as well as many
] others. Yet because of current copyright regulation,
] these projects that would lower the cost of libraries
] dramatically, and spread knowledge broadly cannot go
] forward. The costs of clearing the rights to makes these
] works available is extraordinarily high.
]
] Yet the lobbyists are fighting even this tiny compromise.
] The public domain is competition for them. They will fight
] this competition. And so long as they have the lobbyists,
] and the rest of the world remains silent, they will win.
]
] We need to your help to resist this now. At this stage,
] all that we need is one congressperson to introduce the
] proposal. Whether you call it the Copyright Term
] Deregulation Act, or the Public Domain Enhancement Act,
] doesnt matter. What matters is finding a sponsor, so we
] can begin to show the world just how extreme this debate
] has become: They have already gotten a 20 year extension
] of all copyrights just so 2% can benefit; and now they
] object to paying just $1 for that benefit, so that no one
] else might compete with them.
]
] If you believe this is wrong, here are two things you
] can do: (1) Write your Representative and Senator, and
] ask them to be the first to introduce this statute; point
] them to the website http://eldred.cc, and ask them to
] respond. And even more importantly, (2) blog this request,
] so that others who think about these issues can get
] involved in the conversation.
]
] I have given this movement as much as I can over the past
] four years, and I will not stop until we have reclaimed
] the public domain. Stay tuned for more litigation, and
] more ideas from Creative Commons. But please take these
] two steps now. This could happen. Its a completely reasonable bill. Write your Representative and Senator, I will be. Update: Snail mail has been sent.. |
