Monday, October 14, 2002

Free the Mouse



I've groused before about the Copyright Term Extension Act, which to me clearly violates the intent of the Constitution:





Section 8. The Congress shall have power to ... promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;





U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8





Last week the Supreme Court heard the case of Eldred v. Ashcroft, which unless you've been living under a rock, you should at least be aware of, since there's been a flurry of news coverage on the case, which challenges Sonny Bono's legacy gift to Disney and their ilk ("Congress was not acting to promote progress, it was acting to reward 'court favorites.'"). Now Lawrence Lessig, the lawyer who challenged the act on behalf of his clients, writes up his own impressions of the case.





It is the particular hell for lawyers that after an argument, we live in the purgatory of constantly reliving the argument.





It's really interesting, give it a read.



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