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Belafon6/22/2016 12:14:27 pm PDT

re: #41 KGxvi

I really dislike our current copyright laws. I’d much prefer a renewal system (which we’ve had in the past). I’d say something like this:

1. copyright valid for the life of the artist plus five years (if the artist isn’t a natural person, set it at 25 years; if it’s a partnership or more than one artist it lasts for the life of the longest living artist plus five years)
2. one year before expiration, the copyright holder can renew the copyright. First for a 10 year period, second renewal is 5 years, third renewal and beyond is 1 year. Each renewal requires a higher registration fee. Also, the work must be published in a meaningful way at least once in the preceding 3 years (meaning Disney doesn’t get to run Steamboat Willie at 3 am on a Tuesday one time and then keep the protection).

I think that fairly balances all the interests involved.

I think they should be at 25 years after creation, 35 at the most. That’s long enough that a work like Harry Potter would lose most of it’s monetary impact if a movie studio tried to wait out the copyright before making a movie.