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Comment by sjs382 | Hacker News Reader

I've had this Slashdot comment bookmarked since 2009: https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1306857&cid=2873632...

  In the USA Copyright lengths are very simple. Anything
  older than Mickey Mouse is public domain and everything
  else is still copyrighted.

Edit: Typo--fixed the year.

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Honestly, I wish they'd just issue a special exception for Disney instead of screwing up the entire system because they don't want to appear nakedly corrupt.

My idea for Disney-appeasement without special exemptions: Let copyrights be extended for 14 years at a time, indefinitely, with the requirement of registration and a token filing fee. Anyone who cares can keep their copyright for as long as they want, if they just care enough to fill out a 1 page form. Anyone who doesn't care that much (or no heirs, or whatever), the copyright expires. Bonus side effect: for everything still in copyright, there is a database you can look up current contact info for licensing.

Pretty sure that would violate the Equal Protection Clause.

Thank you for sharing this. I legitimately hope that something will change, and I won't have to share your comment in 2035.

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