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Reforming Copyright - Important, But Not Easy
Posted by Ernest Miller on Monday, August 05 @ 11:52:28 EDT Copyright
Tom W. Bell, professor of intellectual property and cyberlaw at Chapman University School of Law, has a good summary of many of the theoretical issues involving the need for and difficulties in copyright law reform at Tech Central Station (Copy Fighting). The article is excerpted from Copy Fights: The Future of Intellectual Property in the Information Age, a new book on the copyright wars from the Cato Institute.
 
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Re: Reforming Copyright - Important, But Not Easy (Score: 1)
by greglas on Monday, August 05 @ 22:35:17 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.chaihana.com/pers.html
He's actually had this posted on his website for a while, under the title "Indelicate Imbalancing in Copyright and Patent Law"

Bell's suggestion of a [cc] mark merges nicely with the efforts of the Creative Commons folks. His conclusion seems rather grim to me, although probably accurate: there is no "correct" balance to be found and (even if there was) special interests control the shape of the statutes. (The bit about copyright as welfare is a good point.)

He suggests as traditional solutions "long-shot legal claims, the diffuse effects of popular opinion, and long-term academic debates" and then states that "[a]lthough that may sound dispiriting, I assure you from personal experience that it can prove a very engaging project."

Well, engaging and effective are two different things, and this is dispiriting, especially given the expansion of copyright over the last century. If I had to place a longshot bet, it would be on "the diffuse effects of popular opinion" married with P2P and "amateurs" willing to share their work.


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Re: Reforming Copyright - Important, But Not Easy (Score: 1)
by tompoe on Tuesday, August 06 @ 19:26:18 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.studioforrecording.org/
Hi: Personally, I think we're real close to reforming copyright with the Creative Commons approach. It starts with a document slated for the Public Domain, and then rights are added. This reversal of the copyright process will set the stage for a range of copyrights, which will give the general public an awareness of the ludicrous copyright extremes put forth by big business.

Creative Commons represents the Battle Cry! for action.
Thanks,
Tom Poe
Open Studios
Reno, NV
http://www.studioforrecording.org/


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