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by icebraining 5255 days ago
How exactly did you go from expiring copyright to open sourcing?

Expiring copyright is just that: you can copy the distributed result (binaries) as you want. It does not entail open sourcing any more than it would force the studios to release their raw footage and CGI files.

Oh another thing: very important:: a short term of copyright like a few years would be the biggest boon to Hollywood ever as they could simply sit and wait for works to drop into the public domain before turning around and producing them without paying the creators a penny. There would be tons of creators strung along via a studio option - just long enough till the work dropped into the public domain. It would harder than ever for individuals to profit from their creative work and easier than ever for Hollywood to make money off of it.

What creators, exactly, are you talking about? If you mean screenwriters, they could simply sign a simple contract ("You shall not produce a movie based on the work without authorization") before showing it to the studios. Why would they need copyright?
1 comments
twainer 5252 days ago
Expiring copyright and open-sourcing are not the same thing - but they can have the same result. That's a point I think tech-people don't think about enough. If my business is the creative work I've done, what right does an expiring copyright have to put me out of business? By placing my work in the public domain?

Open-sourcing code - though different from an expiring copyright - would create the same result in a business based on the ownership and public non-availability of that code.

Regarding the 'simple contract': contracts mean very little - leverage means everything. Granting very short-term copyrights removes all leverage from the owner of the work. His commercialization window grows very small and he is dependent on organized outside entities to 'make it happen' for him.

Patent coverage isn't even as short as a ten-year term mentioned in the OP. And patents are usually produced by it integrated firms that already have a huge commercialization apparatus running 24/7.

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