Hooray!
A short article from the Economist today argues what anyone who has ever even remotely had to deal in copyright will find instantly glorious — that there is no validity to arguments that longer terms of copyright do anything to protect the rights of the copyright holder, and much more often put unnecessary burdens on museums, libraries, archives, and other not-for-profit educational institutions who can least afford it.
The notion that the original copyright legislation, the Statue of Anne, passed by Parliament in 1709, “helped nurture and channel the spate of inventiveness that Enlightenment society and its successors have since enjoyed,” is an idea we should not forget.
Happy Copyright Day — to 300 years of slippery slope that may in fact be reversible!
smART Rights 