Implementing a sensible copyright: "FLOW-IT"

[ Thanks to steve hill for this link. ]

"Along the way, though, the most obvious and simple solution has mostly been overlooked: just re-implement the traditional limited copyright idea in a way that makes sense for the 21st century. Here's a simple solution that I call "FLOW-IT" for "Free Licensing Of Works — In Time," which simply leverages existing Creative Commons licensing to do the job.

"Copyright abolitionism?

"Since free software, free culture, and copyleft arose primarily as an opposition movement to the existing practices of selling information per copy and the copyright system that supports that model, it's tempting to jump to a "copyright abolitionist" platform — concluding that copyright is entirely a bad idea.

"But in fact, copyright has been a pretty successful system. It has allowed for the creation of large publishing industries and the support of a class of professional artists and authors. Early on, the structure of copyright with truly limited terms and a comparatively sedate pace of technological progress meant that works were still relevant when they passed into the public domain. Even before that, the system of "fair use" allowed for reasonable quotations, resale of used books and media, public libraries, and reference works."

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