[Random-bits] NYT on copyright extention challenge

[James Love]

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/06/business/06LEGA.html

         Copyright Extension Stifles Creativity, Lawyer Tells
         Court

         By THE NEW YORK TIMES

               WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 - A lawyer challenging a recent law
that extends copyrights told a federal appeals court here today that the
extension restricted an artist's First Amendment right to draw on works
from other artists, thus stifling creativity and competition.

         The law, enacted two years ago with heavy support from
companies like Time Warner and Walt Disney, extended the life of
copyright protection for creators of original works by 20 years. It
effectively prevents several of Disney's most lucrative cartoon
characters, for example, from becoming public property in the next
several years. Mickey Mouse had been set to pass into the public domain
in 2004; Pluto, Goofy and Donald Duck would have followed in 2009.

         Under the law, those characters (or songs and other images)
will remain copyrighted just as the potential for their use increases
sharply with the popularity of new media like digital television, cable
services and the Internet.

   [snip]

-- 
James Love  mailto:love@cptech.org http://www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology, P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
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