- Target:
- The US Government
- Region:
- United States of America
This petition is closed.
It is time to put an end to the endless line of copyright extensions. There are many reason to so, such as the following:
-If the literary works made in 1923, the earliest date defended by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (SBCTEA), were applied the laws of their day, they'd have gone to the public domain in 1979. And that's the best case scenario.
-The writer of the SBCTEA originally wanted copyright laws to last forever, before he was told that was unconstitutional. This reveals much of the intent of the bill.
-It is highly unlikely that a franchise or work will remain popular for 70 years (that's the minimum for the SBCTEA).
-There is also a fair chance that the publishing company would have died in those 70 years. For example, Valiant Comics, which was once a serious competitor to Marvel and DC, died in 2004.
We, therefore, demand that the copyright terms end when the author dies or in 50 years, depending on which happens later.
The End The Pointless Extensions of Copyright Terms Now! petition to The US Government was written by Mark Marcguson and is in the category Law Reform at GoPetition.