The New Republic's resident film critic Stanley Kauffmann reviews 8 Women, a new film (in French) from François Ozon, director of Water Drops on Burning Rocks and Under the Sand (Ages of Anxiety). You may ask, why is LawMeme discussing a review of a French movie? The reason is because of this quote from the review, which should strike a cord in any fan of the public domain:
Ozon says that he wanted to make a period film about women and tried to get the rights to Clare Boothe Luce's seventy-year-old play The Women.
Now, Kauffmann does claim that the fact Ozon couldn't get the rights is lucky for filmgoers (he obviously liked the movie). Kauffmann is likely right (the previews look good), but what if we weren't lucky? This is a perfect example of the insanity of current copyright law terms. So, with Eldred being argued before the Supreme Court next week, LawMeme thought it would be interesting to look at this specific example of copyright extension.
When the play The Women was written by Clare Boothe Luce in 1935-36, the term of copyright was 28 years with a renewal term of another 28 years, for a total of 56 years. Under the rules of the game when the play was written, the original bargain with the public, the play would have entered the public domain in 1992. This would have allowed Ozon to make a film of the play without permission of anyone ten years ago. In 1976, the term of copyright was extended such that the play would not enter the public domain until 2011. Ozon would have to wait another nine years to make his movie version. In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act [PDF] extended the term of the copyright until 2031. Ozon, who is nearly 35 today, would be nearing retirement before he could make his movie based on a play written before his parents were likely born. The year 2031 is nearly 40 years more than Clare Boothe Luce expected when she wrote her Broadway success. This is bad enough. However, let us push on with our analysis of copyright terms.
If current copyright law had been in effect when the play was written, it would not enter the public domain until 2057. Clare Boothe Luce wrote the play when she was 33. Using a standard life expectancy table, we would expect a 33 year old to live to 82.3 years (which is not far from Luce's actual age at death of 84). If the play were written today by a 33-year old who lived to 82.3 years (the expected age), we would expect the play to enter the public domain in 2121.
2121!
We should all wish Lessig good luck next Wednesday.