The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #17319   Message #717365
Posted By: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)
25-May-02 - 07:06 PM
Thread Name: Sonny Bono Copyright Extension
Subject: RE: Sonny Bono Copyright Extension -- 2
Some interesting briefs have been filed on behalf of the petitioners (i.e., on behalf of the public domain), including:

Art historians and art teachers: ("Retrospective term extension suppresses and distorts many speakers' messages...inhibits the creation of new works based on old ones and deprives the public of access to older works of historical and cultural interest.")

Economists, including 5 Nobel prizewinners: (The CTEA reduces economic efficiency and consumer welfare.)

Constitutional law professors: (The CTEA should be sent back to the lower courts to be evaluated for its constitutionality under the first amendment.)

Librarians: (Congress did not properly consider the burdens imposed by the CTEA and exaggerated the CTEA's supposed benefits: benefits that are in fact "largely illusory.")

Writers and programmers: ("The CTEA stifles creativity that draws upon existing works and denies society the benefits of a vibrant public domain".) This brief may be of special interest to the Mudcat because it contains a reference to the blues.

T.