A week ago, the same night we played Arkham Horror, my friends and I somehow got on a discussion about copyright. I have no clue how the conversation started, but even though I’m a writer and thus stand to benefit from extended copyright, I played Devil’s Advocate and argued against copyright extension. Unfortunately, I hadn’t done any recent reading on the exact terms of the extension and was a poor debater.* Yesterday another conversation about copyright arose on a listserv, so I took the opportunity to do some quick reading.**
Here’s a brief primer on the (Sonny Bono) Copyright Extension Act, and why some people oppose it. My main argument from a week ago is summed up, in a much better fashion, in the last paragraph. So what do you think? Is copyright extension good or bad? What’s a reasonable length of time for copyright? For patents?
* It probably didn’t help that I was verbally sparring with a lawyer. When will I learn?
**My love-hate relationship with Wikipedia continues. I wish it wasn’t so darn convenient.
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