king_pellinor (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
king_pellinor) wrote2007-05-16 01:23 pm
king_pellinor) wrote2007-05-16 01:23 pm
Intellectual prorpety and copyright
Splitting this off from LadyofAstolat's journal, as it;'s not really on topic there and she said she didn't want to get into it too much:
I see that there's a motion (presumably an Early-Day Motion) in Parliament which says:
"This House notes that 50 years ago Lonnie Donegan's Cumberland Gap was No. 1 in the charts for five weeks; is concerned that due to the present law governing payments for use of audio recordings this track will go out of copyright at the end of 2007 and that the family of Lonnie Donegan, who would have been 76 on 29 April, and the other performers will no longer receive any royalties, nor have any say in how this recording is used".
My response would be:
"I note that 50 years ago Lonnie Donegan's Cumberland Gap was No. 1 in the charts for five weeks; I am concerned that due to the present law governing payments for use of audio recordings this track will not go out of copyright until the end of 2007 and so even now the general public is unable to sing this song freely without getting permission, notwithstanding that Donegan himself is actually dead."
Let songs go into the public domain. If they're only sung by people at parties, or played as soundtracks to what are effectively historical documentaries, then they're not commercial any more. Stop treating them as if they are!
Do you know how many songs can't be sung freely because Cliff Richard owns the copyright? Neither do I, because they're dead ducks commercially and so no-one's paying attention any more!
I see that there's a motion (presumably an Early-Day Motion) in Parliament which says:
"This House notes that 50 years ago Lonnie Donegan's Cumberland Gap was No. 1 in the charts for five weeks; is concerned that due to the present law governing payments for use of audio recordings this track will go out of copyright at the end of 2007 and that the family of Lonnie Donegan, who would have been 76 on 29 April, and the other performers will no longer receive any royalties, nor have any say in how this recording is used".
My response would be:
"I note that 50 years ago Lonnie Donegan's Cumberland Gap was No. 1 in the charts for five weeks; I am concerned that due to the present law governing payments for use of audio recordings this track will not go out of copyright until the end of 2007 and so even now the general public is unable to sing this song freely without getting permission, notwithstanding that Donegan himself is actually dead."
Let songs go into the public domain. If they're only sung by people at parties, or played as soundtracks to what are effectively historical documentaries, then they're not commercial any more. Stop treating them as if they are!
Do you know how many songs can't be sung freely because Cliff Richard owns the copyright? Neither do I, because they're dead ducks commercially and so no-one's paying attention any more!
no subject
How do you see that? I'd have thought that to be contradictory.
I see the copyright period as being a chance to actually get paid for the work you've done: the book I just wrote is worth say £10,000, but that's only going to come from sales over a period of time. I should therefore be given say 10 or 20 years to make those sales, and if I can't do that then it's my own look-out. I don't have to publish, if I don't want the copyright to expire. After that initial time, there are two possibilities:
1) Nobody cares any more, and sales become negligible. Copyright's not doing me any good, the work should go into the public domain so anyone can develop it, should they want to; or
2) Everyone's really keen on it, and sales are still healthy. Copyright's doing me a lot of good, but it's injuring everyone else who'd like to join in. The work should go into the public domain so other people can have a go at developing what is obviously a relatively important part of the public culture.
As for my financial security, I should either be writing more books or saving for my retirement.
no subject