The Good Stuff http://stuffyoushouldread.posterous.com We've searched, read, linked and described The Good Stuff so you don't have to. We're interested in science, beauty, art, literature, language, gender, history, food, wine, music, the Web, the Mac, and travel. posterous.com Mon, 21 Feb 2011 11:06:00 -0800 Law and the Multiverse: Immortality and Copyright http://stuffyoushouldread.posterous.com/2011/02/18/law-and-the-multiverse-mailbag-viii http://stuffyoushouldread.posterous.com/2011/02/18/law-and-the-multiverse-mailbag-viii

In comic books the issue is not just long-lived or immortal characters like Wolverine, but in fact most characters seem not to age much, and in the rare event they do die they usually don’t stay dead. So the ‘life of the creator plus 70 years’ term is effectively eternal for most superheroes.

As to the bit about the Constitution, well, the Supreme Court considered what ‘limited Times’ means in Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003). In a 7-2 decision the Court pretty firmly held that, so long as the copyright term is finite (i.e. literally not infinite), then Congress may set the term as it pleases, including extending the term of existing works retroactively.

I don’t think even an apparently immortal character like Wolverine would upset the Court’s analysis because immortality isn’t really provable. Once someone dies you can say “yep, they were mortal alright,” but as long as someone is alive they are potentially immortal.

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Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:08:00 -0800 University of Texas on Fair Use and Copyright http://stuffyoushouldread.posterous.com/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm http://stuffyoushouldread.posterous.com/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm

We would all appreciate a clear, crisp answer to that one, but far from clear and crisp, fair use is better described as a shadowy territory whose boundaries are disputed, more so now that it includes cyberspace than ever before. In a way, it's like a no-man's land. Enter at your own risk.

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Sun, 06 Feb 2011 22:38:43 -0800 Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center http://stuffyoushouldread.posterous.com/stanford-copyright-and-fair-use-center http://stuffyoushouldread.posterous.com/stanford-copyright-and-fair-use-center http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

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Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:27:02 -0800 C. E. Petit Sinking Pirates http://stuffyoushouldread.posterous.com/c-pir0.shtml%23selfhelp http://stuffyoushouldread.posterous.com/c-pir0.shtml%23selfhelp http://www.authorslawyer.com/c-pir0.shtml#selfhelp

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