> A couple of items... When the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act was > passed into law, works published through 1923 had passed into the public > domain. Once in the public domain always in the public domain. Picky, picky :) Actually I thought this was true, but wasn't sure about the effects of the various extensions. > The duration of copyright on works created today has crossed the line into > the ridiculous as far as I am concerned. If I live another 50 years, my > copyright protection for what I am writing now will not expire until > December 31, 2120.... The life of the author plush 70 years. > > The US Constitution states "The Congress shall have power: ... To promote > the progress of > science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and > inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;" > > I think the Congress is stretching the meaning of "for limited times." > Well, the life+70 years comes from an international treaty, the Berne Convention. As far as the change in US law extending old copyrights from 75 to 95 years, I have it on good authority that the change was the result of massive lobbying by the Walt Disney Corp. which doesn't want Mickey to enter the public domain. You'll probably like this site, <http://www.public.asu.edu/~dkarjala/index.html> -- Tom Thatcher [email protected]