"Due to Napster and DeCSS, copyright has found its way into
the spotlight, at least in some Internet circles. Unfortunately,
this has happened almost 25 years after the major portion of
the damage was done."
"Before I explain that comment, let's take a little look into
history, all the way back to the creation of the Constitution of
the United States of America. How many have read it? If you
have, you're one of less than 25 percent of the American
people (assuming you're American). Article 1, Section 8, Clause
8 deals with copyright and reads as follows: "The Congress
shall have Powers 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."
"That is the basis for all copyright law in America and is, supposedly, the article that
Congress looks to every time they decide a change to copyright law is warranted. Of
course, the wording leaves some points open to interpretation, but the entire Constitution
was designed that way (one of the main reasons George Washington wouldn't support it.)
Still, the Congress of the time interpreted the "limited times" portion as meaning 14 years,
which was renewable for a second 14 years and a maximum of 28 years. The average
person would see a favorite work reach the public domain in his/her lifetime."
