US 1978 Copyright Term Extension - the big deal

This blogger's friend, Joren de Wachter, an IP consultant based on Brussels and TEDx presenter (see IP thought crime on YouTube) has pointed me to Duke University's Centre for the Study of the Public Domain who have drawn our attention to the implications of the 1976 Copyright Act in the United States, which extended retroactively from 1978 copyright term from 56 years after creation of the works to 50 years after death of the author (extended to 70 years in 1998 in line with European law) or 75 years (later extended to 95 years) for works made for hire and pre-1978 works).

The Duke University site has a list of some of this blogger's favourite works affected by the decision , including Gunter Grass's The Tin Dum ("Blechtrommel"), Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers or the movies North by Northwest and The Manchurian Candidate. These were all first released in 1959 and copyright protection would expire on 1 January 2016 under the previous law.

There's a clear economic case to made for copyright protection to reward creativity and to provide a financial incentive to produce the works. The publishers of the affected books have certainly benefited from the extension. Nobel Prize winner Gunter Grass only died in 2015 and his book, the tin drum, is on the reading list of anyone studying German. His literary estate and heirs will benefit from continued protection of his works and no doubt his publishers are still reaping their investment in the promotion of this work.

There are many other works, however, for which such extended copyright protection is probably too long and the current laws can lead to an uncertain situation in which the owner of the copyright cannot be located and/or innovation is impeded.

This blogger is a fan of a registration system under which copyright would be initially granted for set period, but could be later extended if fees are paid. This would give a balance between ensuring that less significant works enter the public domain earlier than currently possible but allowing copyright holders to decide themselves those works which are of significant benefit to enjoy a longer degree of protection.

The cost of biodiversity -- a fascinating business model

Watching paper-based periodical publications struggle with shrinking markets and declining enthusiasm for paper delivery (high production cost, slow delivery, uncertainty of arrival etc), I was wondering how their electronic cousins fare. Earlier this week I came across something that gave me an acute insight into their prospective profitability. This was a notice on the Agrobiodiversity Grapevine that read as follows:

"We would like to bring to your attention the launch of a new international peer-reviewed journal called International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation.
...

You will see that to submit a paper to this journal there is a handling fee of $550.00. It is a very small amount compared to other STM publishers that request a fee of $3000 - $5000 to make a research paper “open access”".

 The publisher's instructions to authors are quite specific:

"Copyright: Submission of a manuscript implies; that the work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, or thesis) that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher [this appears to be unlimited in time, geographical extent or means of exploitation -- and the point at which 'automatic transfer' takes place, assuming that such assignment is valid,will be known to the publisher before it is known to the author. There appears to be no indication of the law governing disputes between author and journal, or any designation of forum].

Fees and Charges: Authors are required to pay a $550 handling fee. Publication of an article in the International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation is not contingent upon the author's ability to pay the charges. Neither is acceptance to pay the handling fee a guarantee that the paper will be accepted for publication. Authors may still request (in advance) that the editorial office waive some of the handling fee under special circumstances.

The journal will be launched in May 2009 and the publisher is Academic Journals; a publisher whose mission is to provides free access to research information to the international community without financial, legal or technical barriers. This publisher works with the open access model, and strongly supports the Open Access initiative. Abstracts and full texts (usually in PDF format) of all articles published by Academic Journals are freely accessible to everyone immediately after publication".

Compared with these terms, the oft-criticised deals struck by recording companies with rock groups, or by music publishers with composers, no longer look quite so outrageous.