Originally from https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/ec2t8p/is_it_still_possible_for_us_in_2020_and_beyond_to/
While I have some interest in other political issues (if they lean liberal or centrist), I consider copyright laws to be the issue I have the most interest in, as I interact with them on a heavy, daily basis. I don't want even a simple noncommercial act of mirroring a website or a few files on a publicly-accessible web server, even if on an obscure one, to cause me to end up with a life-devastating fine, or in other words, being given a heavy-handed punishment for what I think is a petty action for what I would do.
In addition, I'm (likely to be rightly) worried about how many of our cultural icons are owned only by a handful of huge multinational companies, and what other effects that could have. Luckily, there's some non-profit organizations such as Creative Commons and the Electronic Frontier Foundation where their people share many of my views here.
Taking into account opposition from those who support those big companies and Berne Convention from 1909, the bare minimum that I would like to see change are (applies to United States law):
While I have some interest in other political issues (if they lean liberal or centrist), I consider copyright laws to be the issue I have the most interest in, as I interact with them on a heavy, daily basis. I don't want even a simple noncommercial act of mirroring a website or a few files on a publicly-accessible web server, even if on an obscure one, to cause me to end up with a life-devastating fine, or in other words, being given a heavy-handed punishment for what I think is a petty action for what I would do.
In addition, I'm (likely to be rightly) worried about how many of our cultural icons are owned only by a handful of huge multinational companies, and what other effects that could have. Luckily, there's some non-profit organizations such as Creative Commons and the Electronic Frontier Foundation where their people share many of my views here.
Taking into account opposition from those who support those big companies and Berne Convention from 1909, the bare minimum that I would like to see change are (applies to United States law):
- Reduce the duration of copyright terms for both individuals and work-for-hires to life + 50 years and 70 years, respectively. It would be so much better if these could be dropped even lower, to accommodate today's technologies. If they can dropped down to no more than 15 years, that would be the best. Doing this would especially allow a good chunk of earlier computer software to enter the public domain more quickly.
- Shift the primary focus of these laws to commercial activity and away from noncommercial activity, the original target of the first United States copyright laws. Take into account here that companies and corporations are things and not people, so they should be treated differently.
- Remove the automatic copyrights for individuals and other smaller creators. Sometimes they may not know that this process is automatic, so it would be a good idea to educate people before letting them have copyrights for their works.
- Expand fair use in a way that facilitates the growth of fan works and other transformative works, as long as plagiarism doesn't take place. Make it more clear on which situations are likely to pass and which are not.
- Recognize the importance of the public domain, and ensure that more creative works continue to enter there. Have orphaned or abandoned works enter the public domain more quickly.
