In a message dated 9/7/01 2:09:51 PM, engleerica_at_yahoo.com writes:
<< In other words what Madison or Jefferson think matters
nil. What does matter is what the congress in 1978
thought. And what they thought was "Lifetime of author
plus X years" which was once 25, then 50 and now a
whopping 75. >>
It should actually be in perpetuity. Seventy five years is not long
enough.
If you use your time, energy and intellect to create something it is
yours. It should be of no import whether or not you 'use' or 'do something'
with it. It is yours and nobody should be able to use it without your
expressed permission and certainly not without compensation.
Someone on the list said you have to make a reasonable effort to contact
the individual or entity and if they do not cntact you back then you probably
can go ahead. I disagree, the entity or individual may not want to contact
you and is under no obligation to do so. If you do not have permission you
don't use whatever it is you want to use.
From this stems the notion of private property and all those rights
associated with that concept.
If you build a house, boat, or anything else and you choose not to 'use
it', does that mean that in 5,10,15,20 years someone should be able to come
along and say,"well, you are not using this so I will". I don't think so,
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