Copyright Duration

[meydele <meydele...>]

Please note that the Noteworthy website referenced by Helen Winkler DOES NOT 
reflect the changes 
made to the Copyright statute by the 1998 Sono Bono Copyright Extension Act 
(I'm not making this 
up - that's the way the 1998 changes are known).  It is not accurate, in other 
words.

You should also be aware that there are different rules which pertain to 
recordings (which 
weren't covered by federal copyright protection until the 1970's).  

Marvin is right about the court challenge.  All of these highly confusing 
changes are motivated 
by the desire to protect the intellectual property of several large 
corporations from falling 
into the public domain (sometimes known among copyright lawyers as the "Mickey 
Mouse Extensions" 
because they were initiated by you know which corporation to protect the 
copyright in you know 
what.)  One of the avowed purposes of the 1978 massive revision to/reworking of 
the Copyright 
Act was to end the abuses and confusion arising from the rules pertaining to 
renewal terms.  But 
the concept just won't go away.  

Shira Lerner (who is happy to say that she no longer practices copyright law 
under the name of 
Susan Lerner)






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