[Foundation-l] Research: Optimal copyright term is about 14 years

[Roger Luethi]

On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 12:46:44 -0700, Ray Saintonge wrote:
> Roger Luethi wrote:
> >The Act of Anne was basically a slightly modified Stationer's Copyright
> >(which was perpetual and discredited for fostering monopolies and for its
> >historical ties with censorship); its term limit may have been inspired by
>
> "Fostering monopolies?"  I'm glad the movie and recording industries 
> aren't out to do that. ;-)

Yeah, the arguments haven't changed all that much over the past centuries.
Like the Statute of Monopolies, the Statute of Anne was an attempt to limit
the damage inflicted by monopolies.

> bit of hypothesis testing.  Be that as it may it takes the subject into 
> an interesting direction, and it would be nice to see more work done on 
> this.

I'd be wary of lending credence to economic models even if they support our
viewpoint. You'll find an economic model to support any assertion no matter
how outlandish. All the magic is in supporting data (if any) and
assumptions (always plenty).

Roger