CTEA

Howard Besser at UCLA has a useful article on the loss of public space due to the copyright extension act. Includes extensive concrete examples. Here's the abstract:

Just as large-scale economic forces are causing gentrification of our cities and the elimination of public spaces that allow culture and politics to flourish, powerful economic interests have also launched a full-scale attack on our public information spaces, many of which exist on the Internet. This article uses the disappearance of public spaces in our cities as a metaphor for the disappearance of public spaces in cyberspace. It focuses on the Content Industry's use of copyright law to assault the public domain and their attempt to turn all information into commodities. And it discusses the horrific implications of all of this on free speech, artistic endeavors, and our entire way of life.

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In a Law.com article on the Edlred v. Ashcroft case, Victoria Slid-Flor offers Mary Bono's comment on her work on the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act:

"Sonny wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever," but added, "I am informed by staff that such a change would violate the Constitution." She proposed the change from 50 years past the creator's death to life plus 70 years and noted that Jack Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, had suggested a term of "forever less one day."

The more optimistic aspects of the article (which are actually the focal point) include discussion of Justice Breyer's anti extension stance) and Larry Lessig's quip about the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act." - goto

On FindLaw, Chris Sprigman reports that the US Supreme Court will hear a suit challenging CTEA (The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act), good new for those interested in promoting progress in arts and sciences using copyright laws as they were originally intended.

Unless you earn your living as an intellectual property lawyer, you probably don't know that the Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Eldred v. Ashcroft , a case that will test the limits of Congress's power to extend the term of copyrights. But while copyright may not seem inherently compelling to non-specialists, the issues at stake in Eldred are vitally important to anyone who watches movies, listens to music, or reads books.

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