Reform copyright law to allow format-shifting of purchased media (for example, from CD to MP3)[^1].
Immediately reduce the term of copyright from '70 years from the end of the calendar year of the author's death' to '50 years from the end of the calendar year of the author's death' (the minimum allowed by the Berne Convention) and lobby other states for a worldwide further reduction to 'life + 25 years'.
Encourage the Advertising Standards Authority to tighten regulations around the use of pseudo-scientific language and terminology for the promotion of cosmetic, toiletry, food or other products, without sufficient evidence.
[^1]: Can we have our freedom to joke now please? - Open Rights Group
[^1]: Can we have our freedom to joke now please? - Open Rights Group
@timcowlishaw - almost 10 years ago
A 👍 in principle from me - the proposal to revise downwards to the lower bound permissable by the Berne Convention in particular is a very strong idea.
However, I'd question Life+25 as an optimal copyright term in the absence of other constraints. Rufus Pollock of the OKFN has done a lot of research on this subject, and proposes an optimal term of 15 years.
I'll flesh this out later (and find some more sources - there are plenty), but I'd like to propose a compulsory deposit / registration requirement, with a term of 15 years from registration, plus an optional extra 15 on application once that 15 has expired.
More generally, any copyright term that explicitly persists beyond the death of the author seems entirely counter-productive to me.
👍 here also. @timcowlishaw, if we pull this in, you can submit your refinements as a separate PR. That OK?
@timcowlishaw - almost 10 years ago
Sounds great. will get on that today!
On 9 May 2014 08:55, James Smith [email protected] wrote:
[image: 👍] here also. @timcowlishawhttps://github.com/timcowlishaw, if we pull this in, you can submit your refinements as a separate PR. That OK?
— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/openpolitics/manifesto/pull/184#issuecomment-42641727 .
@frankieroberto - almost 10 years ago
@timcowlishaw I'm not sure of the benefits of compulsory deposit – doesn't that just add an extra burden, and would be hard to manage in an age of mass creativity (you'd have to register every blog post?)
The benefit of "Life + x" is, as I see it, because the date of someone's death is fairly unambiguous and more likely to be knowable than date of creation or first publication.
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@frankieroberto - almost 10 years ago
Reducing the length of copyright allows for more universal access to knowledge, as well enabling commercial activity around out-of-copyright works (e.g. printings, adaptations, etc).
Life + 50 years is achievable immediately without breaking the international Berne Convention.
Life + 25 years would, in my view, represent a fairer balance between allowing authors control of their work, and enabling wider access and use sooner after their death.
(Works by multiple authors such as films or anonymous authors might need separate provisions)