The fight to keep the UK copyright system as is -- rather than being extended to a period of 95 years from date of creation -- is getting a little boost from an independant review according to the BBC. The BBC reports, "an independent review is to recommend the terms are not extended, a well-placed government source has said." Which, if heeded, would mean that the earliest Beatles recordings could fall into the public domain as early as 2013 and, that Sir Cliff Richard's earliest recordings -- who in his day was the British answer to Elvis -- could hit the public domain in 2008.
Needless to say, the IFPI and the BPI aren't the happiest of campers. John Kennedy, who in my estimation is an enemy of creativity worldwide threatens, "If the UK government decides not to support copyright equalisation, then the music industry will have to continue its campaign in Europe."
[via BBC]
1. I applaud the the UK gov't for at least doing something, even if it's not really enough.
["If the UK government decides not to support copyright equalisation, then the music industry will have to continue its campaign in Europe."]
It's campaign for what? To continue residual income based on a product made years or decades ago? Yes, there's a reason for copyright, but it's not to allow someone to make one or two works and then be allowed to live off of them for the rest of their life (and then some!). The reason is to give them a *TEMPORARY* and short monopoly as a dangling-carrot type of incentive for them to keep on making useful creative works. How the heck does giving them a monopoly for the *rest of their life* and THEN some accomplish that?
I understand that it is in the nature of IP products that they can be copied quickly, cheaply and easily, but it's no reason to grant a life-long-and-then-some monopoly on them.
Perhaps I (and many others) would be more inclined to respect copyright if it wasn't so lop-sided these days and the terms weren't so ridiculously long. Really, it should be just a couple of years. If you can't get your product out the door by then and make money on it, then learn how to innovate and create more products or just go broke. Just like everyone else has to.
Posted at 1:02AM on Nov 28th 2006 by epp_b