On Wednesday, September 22, 2021 10:12:49 PM Gene Heskett wrote: > Or the ARRL forgot to renew the copyright. Copyrights were originally > issued for a period of 7 years, renewable once for an additional 7 > years.
Hmm, without looking it up, I thought the 7/7 years was for patents, and copyright was a little different (maybe like 13/13?)? (But Gene probably remembers better than I do.) > Along comes Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, and Walt had money > enough to get the law changed so we have the current never expires > situation by including corporations such as Disney in it definitions of > authors. If its ever been renewed. But the law today gives me automatic > copyright over what I write without additional public notice, I think > for 90 years after I die. Something like that, but doesn't sound quite right (wish I had a better memory). Previously copyrighted works are coming into the "public domain" year by year, about 95 years after -- oh, maybe it is after the author's death? Maybe there is an alternate path to copyright expiring? Not sure how it works if a corporation owns a copyright -- I don't think it is perpetual. And, at least some of the relevant laws differ by nation. > There is something wrong with this picture. 14 years was considered as > the author having milked his writings for 99% of all they would ever > generate in income. IMNSHO it (the original version) is still a good > idea. Stealing an individuals creativity, and his rewards for being > creative by awarding the copyright to a corporation, is theft pure and > simple, Hmm, I don't think the copyright law nor the government award the copyright to a corporation. If a corporation gets a copyright (or patent) that is based on some explicit contractual or implicit (like the "work for hire" doctrine) agreement > Cheers, Gene Heskett
