9: Life Plus 70

Does the idea of copyright protect the interests of artists and creators? Does it add billions of dollars to the US economy every year? Or does it stifle expression, innovation, and economic growth?

In this episode, we discuss the public domain, Google’s spiders, the capital of the Galactic Empire, the Statute of Anne, Jiminy Cricket, and Motown.

This is Robot F. Kennedy.

SHOW NOTES

The Goodlatte Bill
Hollywood-friendly copyright bill passes House of Representatives: https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/27/15452668/copyright-selection-accountability-goodlatte-bill-passes-house

Congress is trying to give even more power to Hollywood: https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/3/15161522/mpaa-riaa-copyright-office-library-of-congress-dmca-infringement

Copyright length in the United States
https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html

Star Wars / Hidden Fortress Comparison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g8r0LhpMzk

In 19th century Germany, “they had Kant, Mozart, and Goethe AT THE SAME TIME”
The missing Enlightenment: http://snarkmarket.com/2010/6141

Copywrong
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/crooner-rights-spat

Additional Reading/Viewing

The Hole in Our Collective Memory: How Copyright Made Mid-Century Books Vanish - The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/07/the-hole-in-our-collective-memory-how-copyright-made-mid-century-books-vanish/278209/

Cory Doctorow on copyright and piracy: 'Every pirate wants to be an admiral' - video | Opinion | The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2011/may/30/internet-piracy-cory-doctorow

Piracy Isn't Killing The Entertainment Industry, Scholars Show - TorrentFreak: https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-isnt-hurting-the-entertainment-industry-121003/

How to fix copyright in two easy steps (and one hard one) / Boing Boing: http://boingboing.net/2015/01/23/how-to-fix-copyright-in-two-ea.html

Footnote: If you're seeing this, it's hosted on SoundCloud.