July 12, 2007
The Ideal Term of Copyright
From Mark Twain through Mark Helprin, a lengthy lineage of authors hs argued that copyright should last forever. But that contention doesn't go far in the Internet age, says Rufus Pollock, a graduate student in economics at the University of Cambridge.
In a paper titled "Forever Minus a Day? Some Theory and Empirics of Optimal Copyright," he says the duration of copyright should lessen, over time, as technology makes it easier to produce and disseminate content. Then Mr. Pollock, a Ph.D. candidate, goes a step further: After some mathematical heavy lifting, he concludes that the "optimal term" for copyright on books and recordings is only 14 years.
"This is substantially shorter than any current copyright term," he writes in the paper's abstract, "and implies that existing copyright terms are too long." (Thanks to Boing Boing for the link.) --Brock Read
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Mark Twain did not believe copyright should last forever. He believed that the law should protect an author’s children, but Congress should “let the grandchildren take care of themselves.”
— Dan Cohen Jul 12, 10:29 PM #
Nonsense. The argument ignores that there can be certain standard references, even novels, that are classics. Should “Gone with the Wind” be out of copyright? The 2nd Ed of my Catalog of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture lasted 25 years before we “updated” to color.
— William Allin Storrer Jul 13, 08:39 AM #
I suspect this student will learn some different “economics” once he publishes his first book.
— Gary Jul 13, 10:12 AM #
Mr. Storrer: Should Shakespeare be out of copyright? Melville? Note the U.S. Constitution, Article I section 8: “The Congress shall have Power To… promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” — that is the basis of copyright in the U.S.: for LIMITED times.
— bob Jul 13, 11:18 AM #
I suspect that copyright protection is too long, and I think Mr. Pollock’s work is quite a valuable contribution. Here’s a market-based solution: create a copyright tax. After a tax-free period of a few years (14?), materials would lapse into the public domain when authors no longer feel their creations have commercial value and fail to pay the copyright tax.
— Bob Petrulis Jul 13, 01:33 PM #