[Geckomlis]

Originally posted by Jack Simth:
It used to be that patents expired after 20 years and copyrights after 75 - but I have heard that has changed recently.

As for unconstitutional: The constitution actually makes specific allowance for copyrights and patents:

quote:

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From The United States Constitution, Article 1, section 8(Powers vested in Congress):
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inverntors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

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The problem is that “for limited times” has become a defacto “for all time”. When that limited time expired, works were supposed to enter the public domain. This is not occurring anymore. Congress regularly extends the period of copyright, so essentially nothing has entered the public domain from this process since the late 1940’s. Congress does this in response to lobbyists working on the behalf of the uber media corporations. This corrupts the balance between author’s rights and the public good. FYI: The USA is very unique in its view of copyright. Other countries have author’s rights traditions and are not particularly concerned about an abstract public good.

[ June 18, 2003, 22:21: Message edited by: geckomlis ]