Friday, October 28, 2011

Big Media's Continuing War Against Free Expression

In response to an article I read today about yet another encroachment on our rights, I decided to revisit my complaints about unreasonable changes to copyright laws over the last 25 years, and the even more unreasonable encroachments on our rights in the name of enforcement.

Big Media is a threat to free speech and free expression. In 1980 they successfully lobbied to double the time before copyrights expire, then in 2000, they doubled the time again. Slowly the encroachment on the public's rights continues to grow in the name of protecting authors who will never live as long as their copyrights. It's time to stop the encroachment on our rights, limit copyrights to their traditional lifespans, and protect consumer rights and fair use.

Big Media does not need Government protection. We don't need an entertainment monopoly. We need freedom so that individuals have the ability to compete. Please DO NOT support bills that encroach on the public's rights to make fair use of various media on the internet, and please REPEAL the recent unreasonable extensions of copyrights that have been made in the last 25 years.

1 comment:

David Lloyd said...

http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/online/dont-break-internet

This article warns about yet another dangerous overreaching attempt to protect Big Media's copyrights that would violate free speech rights of individuals, and would authorize courts to destroy personal property of individuals without notification or due process: all in the name of protecting corporate "rights" which I have previously stated are inappropriate, and should never have been granted or expanded to the current extent. Big Media does not need protection by Government. It needs to be dismantled so that individual rights are restored to pre-1980 standards. Our current laws stifle creativity and free expression. Much of the material being "pirated" would have been considered in the public domain prior to 1980.

I believe only individuals ought to be authorized to own intellectual property. In cases where a group of people need copyrights protected, trusts should be created to manage those rights on a case-by-case basis.