Dirtside's Journal: A revised model for content distribution

Here's a revised version of my "ideal" copyright system. (Disclaimer: System described is not ideal.)

The point of this system is to recognize the fact that trying to legally prevent free redistribution of copyrighted works, given modern technology, is futile at best, and more often wasteful and destructive. Preventing others from selling copies is feasible, but preventing various and sundry individuals from redistributing them for free is not.

Let me know if I missed anything.

DOMAIN OF COPYRIGHT

Holding the copyright on a work would mean that you and you alone had the right to sell the work. However anyone could distribute copies of that work for free. They could not even charge materials costs or distribution costs, let alone try to make a profit. No one besides the copyright holder could distribute modified copies. The copyright holder could waive these rights in individual cases as they chose.

(The right of first sale would still exist, of course; you couldn't prevent someone from selling a copy they paid for, but no one except the copyright holder could make additional copies and sell those.)

DURATION OF COPYRIGHT

The duration of copyright in this system depends on whether the copyright holder receives any income for the work.

Copyright would be held at the creation of the work. As long as the work is not made available to the public, the copyright would last indefinitely.

When the work is made available to the public, then copyright lasts 70 years from that date OR until the death of the copyright holder plus twenty years, whichever is shorter. However this scheme only holds as long as the work is distributed for free.

As soon as the author receives any income for the work, the duration of copyright decreases to 20 years. (If less than 20 years remain on the copyright when income is first received, then the duration does not change. So you couldn't distribute the work for free for 69 years, then sell a copy, and get another 20 years. You'd still only have 1 year left.)

TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT

Transferring or selling a copyright to another entity, be it human or corporation, would reduce any remaining copyright to twenty years, regardless of other status. (If the remaining copyright duration was less than twenty years, then nothing would change.)

Interesting

[_ZenZagg_]

An interesting approach; too bad corporate lobbyists with inherited patent and copyright piggybanks would create a 'squeaky wheel' circus about any bill pushing anything resembling those ideas. :/

Hmm, there needs to be an easier way to be a squeaky wheel, awesome things could then be accomplished.

Re:Interesting

[Dirtside]

No, if it was easy, then everyone would do it, and remember that most people are morons, so we'd be flooded with squeaky wheels. :)

One way I can envision my system coming into use would be for copyright holders to voluntarily adhere to it, since it's compatible with our current copyright system. Most likely this would occur via individual authors like Cory Doctorow, since the odds of any large media company ever agreeing to use this system is, as you noted, infinitesimal.