In the last several weeks (2/2) (2/9) we've been discussing the United States copyright laws.under the terms of the Copyright Act of 1976, and the recent Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (or here in pdf form) which extends the copyright for all currently covered and future works for an additional 20 years.
Several days ago I received an email from Craig Pospisil of Dramatists Play Service in which he, I believe fairly, criticizes the slant of the previous articles in favor of those who oppose the extension. (What follows are excerpts from my response to him.)
I'm afraid that as a writer who might perhaps be affected by the loss of adaptable public domain material my enthusiasm may have been misdirected during the research and writing. Heck, a casual glance at the "New Plays" page of the DPS site reveals that maybe 10 percent of the plays might never have been permitted to be written if copyright had been extended backward a few years.
On the other hand, as a creator of original works I have little complaint about the idea of copyright in perpetuity. The idea of being able to pass on the copyrights as a legacy is indeed alluring -- and, financial concerns of heirs or assignees aside, perhaps most enticing of all is the thought of having someone well-versed in the wishes of the author maintaining the integrity of the work into the future.
Of greatest defense of the extension is the sense of needing to create parity with other copyright laws, specifically the international agreements adopted by representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization. By failing to pass laws that match the terms of the WIPO agreement, American writers would find themselves in a situation where their works are being used as public domain materials while European authors still enjoyed copyright protection.
Oddly, in attempting to find a list of links in support of the extension I find that the opposition has been much more vocal (at least on the net) than its supporters. If you follow the links below you'll see that most of the pages focus more on the Sensenbrenner Amendment which was tacked on despite much recording industry protest; it exempts small restaurants, bars, and stores from music licensing fees for playing radio or TV music.
The Supporters
Here are some links to press releases from major US rights organizations regarding the copyright extension.
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers' (ASCAP) take on the extension.
National Music Publishers' Association and The Harry Fox Agency's take(s).
The Recording Academy's Grammy site's take.
The Recording
Go To Page: 1 2
