While copyright laws have evolved over recent decades, as explained in the Free Culture article, the evolution of copyright laws has actually had an inverse relationship with modern media sharing and piracy.
While Lawrence Lessig addresses the history of these laws, he fails to offer huge details about how these laws need to change to totally reflect the needs of current users.
Until 1992, copyright laws dictated that owners could renew their rights after a given number of years. As such, the average lifetime of a copyright was around 32 years. However, under the new laws established in 1992, the average lifetime of a copyright has increased to a set 95%.
Ironically, these more stringent copyright laws were established just as the Internet was becoming increasingly popular and used more widely in both businesses and homes.
As explained by the video we watched in class today, (Matt if you can send me the URL I’d love to link to it from this post), copyright laws simply don’t make sense with technology today and the norms of how files are shared, etc.
There was a great quote in today’s in-class video: “Current laws are making our kids criminals.” If you considering when current copyright laws were made, and by “when” I don’t just mean what year, I mean also the technological context of the time, it becomes extremely evident that the current laws are not appropriate for the current state of technology. The technology has advanced far more rapidly than the laws; creating an disconnect between the two, and forcing people to break the law in order to use current technologies to their full capacity.
This considered, it appears that the fossils who control copyright laws will eventually have to revolutionize the laws to match the capabilities of modern technology. In doing so, many – including Lawrence Lessig – have suggested that lawmakers adopt a Creative Commons license in order to allow users to employ the technology to its full capabilities without breaking laws that are becoming increasingly obsolete.
www.wirednextfest.com
While the Creative Commons License, which allows non-commercial use of a given work, so long as attribution is given, is a somewhat new concept, and to date isn’t widely accepted by law and policy makers.
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