Mexico to Abolish the Public Domain
Lawrence Lessig discusses a tragic proposal being considered by the Mexican Congress. Mexico would extend copyright from the life of the author plus 70 years, to the life of the author plus 100 years. Also, “at the end of the copyright term, the government has the right to charge royalties for works in the “public domain.”” It’s hard to think about much of anything except the war right now, but this is a foolish proposal that will devastate creativity and progress in Mexico for generations. Perhaps it will take someone implementing such horrific steps backwards for people to wake up to the idea that an author’s exclusive rights to their works must be balanced by the public’s interest in widely available access. If we see Mexico self-destruct, perhaps we’ll think twice before doing the same. Unfortunately, Lessig is right that the “harmonization” argument will push others to follow suit. Then, of course, we all end up flushing progress down the drain. Did anyone need another reason to be depressed?
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