Fight for Public Domain Goes On

["Hamaker, Chuck" <cahamake@email.uncc.edu>]

Fight for Public Domain Goes On
By Katie Dean, Wired.com, Dec. 02, 2004
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65898,00.html

Digital archivists aren't giving up on their efforts to free
out-of-print books, movies and music from overreaching copyright laws,
despite a recent setback in court.

"The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of four copyright laws:
the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992, the Sony Bono Copyright Term Extension
Act, the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Berne Convention Implementation
Act.

For most of the 20th century, artists and creators had to register with
the copyright office to get a copyright, and were granted a term of 28
years. At the end of that term, they had to renew their copyright to get a
28-year extension. Many didn't bother to renew and the work entered the
public domain. But Congress passed several laws that gave copyright owners
far more power: It removed the registration and renewal requirements, so
now anything "fixed in a tangible medium" is under copyright, and the term
is the life of the creator plus 70 years.

The plaintiffs claim that removing registration and renewal requirements
and expanding the term of copyright have made it virtually impossible for
works to enter the public domain. Now, out-of-print albums and books --
many of which are not commercially viable -- are simply rotting away
unused, but are still protected by copyright."

Cited in: digital-copyright Digest 8 Dec 2004 16:00:01 -0000 Issue 456
Chuck Hamaker
Associate University Librarian Collections and Technical Services
Atkins Library
University of North Carolina Charlotte
Charlotte, NC 28223
phone 704 687-2825