The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended copyright terms in the United States by 20 years. Before the act, an author's copyright would last until fifty years after his death. After the act, an author's copyright would last until seventy years after his death, while copyrights for works of corporate authorship would last 75 to 95 years. The act also affected copyright terms for copyrighted works published prior to January 1, 1978, increasing their term of protection by 20 years as well. This effectively 'froze' the advancement date of the public domain in the United States for works covered by the older fixed term copyright rules. Under this act, no additional works made in 1923 or after, that were still copyrighted in 1998, will enter the public domain until 2019. Unlike copyright extension legislation in the European Union, the Sonny Bono Act did not revive copyrights that had already expired. However, the act did extend the terms of protection set for works that were already copyrighted, and is retroactive in that sense. 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... United States copyright law is rooted in Article One of the United States Constitution, which states: The Congress shall have the power. ... For copyright issues in relation to Wikipedia itself, see Wikipedia:copyrights. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 2019 is a Common year starting on Tuesday. ... Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip Sonny Bono (February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American record producer, singer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades. ...

Background

Under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the signatory states are required to provide copyright protection for a minimum term of the life of the author plus fifty years, but they are permitted to provide for a longer term of protection, and between 1993 and 1996 the European Union provided protection for a term of the author's life plus seventy years (see Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection). The United States did not become a Berne signatory until 1988, but had previously provided for the minimum copyright term the convention required in the Copyright Act of 1976. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, sometimes called the Berne Union or Berne Convention, adopted at Berne in 1886, first established the recognition of copyrights between sovereign nations. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection was a European Union (EU) copyright directive issued in 1993. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Copyright Act of 1976 is the United States copyright law that was passed in 1976. ...

Prior to the 1976 copyright act, many copyrighted literary works, movies, and fictional characters were soon to pass into the public domain due to their 56-year maximum copyright terms. Some of these copyrighted items remained quite profitable for their copyright owners, including several characters owned by the Walt Disney Company. With the passage of the 1976 copyright act, Mickey Mouse, along with early animated short films such as Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy, would not enter the public domain until 2000 at the earliest due to their new 75-year copyright terms. In several countries (e.g. in Russia, where the Berne convention was not applied retroactively) Mickey Mouse and all other copyrighted works created before 1970 are now in the public domain. Wikisource Every Author - Online books and writers forums A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism, and Philology (José Ángel García Landa, University of Zaragoza, Spain) Open Directory Project: Literature World Literature Electronic Text Archives Magazines and E-zines Online Writing Writers Resources Libraries, Digital Cataloguing, Metadata Distance Learning T... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Alternate meanings: Disney (disambiguation) The Walt Disney Company (also known as Disney Enterprises, Inc. ... Mickeys most recognizable look has him wearing red shorts and yellow shoes. ... Animation is the technique in which each frame of a film or movie is produced individually, whether generated as a computer graphic, or by photographing a drawn image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model (see claymation and stop motion), and then photographing the result. ... A short film (also short or short subject) is a motion picture that is shorter than the average feature film. ... Steamboat Willie, released on November 18, 1928, is an animated cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse. ... Plane Crazy (first released on May 15, 1928) was the first cartoon to feature Mickey Mouse as well as Minnie Mouse (Mickeys flapper girlfriend). ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mickeys most recognizable look has him wearing red shorts and yellow shoes. ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

After the United States' accession to the Berne convention, a number copyright owners successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress for another extension of the term of copyright, to provide for the same term of protection that exists in Europe. The act was named after the late Congressman, Sonny Bono, who had favored this position as a songwriter and filmmaker even prior to his entry into politics. Lobbying is the practice of private advocacy with the goal of influencing a governing body, in order to ensure that an individuals or organizations point of view is represented in the government. ... Seal of the Congress. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip Sonny Bono (February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American record producer, singer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades. ...

Both houses of the United States Congress passed the act as Public Law 105-298 with a voice vote, making it impossible to determine who voted for or against. President Bill Clinton signed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 on October 21, 1998. A voice vote is a vote taken on a topic where the participants respond to a question with yea (yes), nay (no), or present (abstain). ... Order: 42nd President Vice President: Al Gore Term of office: January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 Preceded by: George H. W. Bush Succeeded by: George W. Bush Date of birth: August 19, 1946 Place of birth: Hope, Arkansas First Lady: Hillary Rodham Clinton Political party: Democratic William Jefferson Clinton (born... October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 71 days remaining. ...

As a consequence of the act, under current law, no copyrighted works will enter into the public domain in the United States until January 1, 2019 at the earliest, when the copyright on works created in 1923 would expire. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2019 is a Common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Political Climate

In addition to Disney (whose extensive efforts in lobbying for passage of this lent it its darkly humorous nickname of "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act"), Mary Bono (Sonny Bono's widow and Congressional successor) and the estate of George Gershwin supported the act. Mary Bono, speaking on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, noted that "Sonny wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever", but that since she was "informed by staff that such a change would violate the Constitution", Congress might consider Jack Valenti's proposal of a copyright term of "forever less one day". Alternate meanings: Disney (disambiguation) The Walt Disney Company (also known as Disney Enterprises, Inc. ... Mary Whitaker Bono (born October 24, 1961), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1998, representing the 45th District of California. ... George Gershwin photograph by Edward Steichen in 1927. ... The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... Jack Joseph Valenti (born September 5, 1921) was special assistant to Lyndon Johnsons White House. ...

Support

Proponents of the Bono Act argue that it is necessary given that the life expectancy of humans has risen dramatically since Congress passed the original Copyright Act of 1790, that a difference in copyright terms between the United States and Europe would negatively affect the international operations of the entertainment industry, and that some works would be created under perpetual copyright that would never be created under time-limited copyright. They also claim that Congress has the power to pass whatever copyright term it wants because the language "To promote the progress of science and useful arts" in the United States Constitution is not a substantive limitation on the powers of Congress, leaving the sole restriction that copyrights must only last for "limited times." However, in respect to what the "times" granted must be "limited" has never been determined, thus it is argued that even one million years would still be a valid "limited time" under the letter of the Constitution. Life expectancy is the most likely number of years remaining for a living being (or the average for a class of living beings) of a given age to live. ... The Copyright Act of 1790 was the first Federal copyright act to be instituted in the United States, though most of the states had passed legislation protecting literary rights in the years immediately following the Revolution. ... The entertainment industry consists of a large number of sub-industries devoted to entertainment. ...

Relationship to the European Constitution

In its article II.77.2, the European Constitution contains neither a "limited time" nor a "to promote the progress of science and useful arts" clause. Critics of the EU constitution claim that this is not an oversight, but rather an intentional choice of words, and that soon after its ratification, Europe will get a "perpetual copyright and patents" directive.

Opposition

Opponents of the Bono Act consider the legislation to be little more than corporate welfare and have tried (but failed thus far) to challenge its constitutionality, claiming that such an act is not "necessary and proper" to accomplishing the Constitution's stated purpose of "promot[ing] the progress of science and useful arts". They argue that most works bring most of the profits during the first few years and are pushed off the market by the publishers thereafter. Thus there is little economic incentive in extending the terms of copyrights except for the few owners of franchises that are wildly successful anyway, such as Disney. They also point out that the Tenth Amendment limits the powers that Congress can gain from a treaty. More directly, they see two successive terms of approximately 20 years each (the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Bono Act) as the beginning of a "slippery slope" toward a perpetual copyright term that nullifies the intended effect and violates the spirit of the "for limited times" language of the United States Constitution, Article I, section 8, clause 8. They question the proponents' life expectancy argument, pointing out that the copyright terms under the 1790 act lasted only twenty-eight years total, that life expectancies have not risen threefold since 1790 (ignoring infant mortality, they have increased barely ten years), and that even though terms of patents have not been extended in parallel, patents adequately reward investment in the field with their mere twenty-year term. Corporate welfare, also called wealthfare is a pejorative term first coined by Ralph Nader in 1956 to describe a governments bestowal of grants and/or tax breaks on one or more corporations or other special favorable treatment from the government. ... Amendment X (the Tenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, states: The Tenth Amendment is generally recognized to be a truism. ... The Copyright Act of 1976 is the United States copyright law that was passed in 1976. ... Article One of the United States Constitution establishes the legislative branch of government, Congress, which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Infant mortality is the death of infants in the first year of life. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of an invention. ...

It has been said that extending copyright terms to "harmonize" with those elsewhere can involve a "leapfrogging" effect (http://www.troutworks.com/Joycelog/joycelog.php?joycedate=20030115): two sides repeatedly extend their copyright terms to try and keep up with each other. Opponents also question the proponents' "new works would not be created" argument by pointing out proponents' hidden presumption that the goal is to make the creation of new works possible, whereas the authors of the United States Constitution evidently thought that unnecessary and explicitly restricted the goal to merely "promot[ing] the progress of science and useful arts." In fact, some works created under time-limited copyright would not be created under perpetual copyright because the creator of a distantly derivative work does not have the money to purchase a license from the owner of copyright in the original work, or the individual or privately held owner of copyright in the original work might refuse to license a use at any price (though a refusal to license may trigger a fair use safety valve). One can thus argue that a rich, continually replenished, public domain is necessary for continued artistic creation. Although company logos such as these are often copyrighted and trademarked, the fair use doctrine permits their use in certain contexts without prior permission. ...

For example, the works of Shakespeare and the Greek myths have been the basis for much of Neil Gaiman's writing, which might well not have been created if they were still under copyright. Recent works that have entered the popular culture, and for which copyright is arguably not appropriate, include the novels that created Frankenstein and Dracula, both originating in the 19th century. Most of the holy writings of major religions are also in the public domain, which allows them to be adapted, translated, paraphrased and otherwise made suitable to modern audiences. If the Roman Catholic Church had a perpetual copyright on the letters of Paul of Tarsus, it could have refused to license them for translation, or for use by other churches. Many of Disney's most famous feature movies have themselves been derivatives of public domain works; for example, their film The Jungle Book was created the year after the copyright on the book expired. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960 in Portchester, England) is the author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many comic books. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is a novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. ... Bela Lugosi as Dracula United States stamp Dracula is a fictional character, arguably the most famous vampire in fiction. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Saint Peters Basilica in Rome. ... Paul of Tarsus (originally Saul of Tarsus) or Saint Paul the Apostle (c. ... The Jungle Book is Disneys 19th animated feature film, first released on October 18, 1967. ... The Jungle Book (1967 movie) French edition, 1957. ...

Challenges

Publishers and librarians, among others, brought Eldred v. Ashcroft to obtain an injunction on enforcement of the act. Oral arguments were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 9, 2002, and on January 15, 2003, the court held the CTEA constitutional by a 7-2 decision. The plaintiffs in the Eldred case have as of 2003 begun to shift their effort toward the U.S. Congress in support of a bill called the Public Domain Enhancement Act that would make the provisions of the Bono Act apply only to copyrights that had been registered with the Library of Congress. Eldred v. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in Leap years). ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... In the Federal Government of the United States, the Public Domain Enhancement Act (House Bill 2601) (PDEA) is a bill proposed in the United States Congress which, if passed, would add a tax for copyrighted works to retain their copyright status. ... Library of Congress, Jefferson building The Library of Congress is the unofficial national library of the United States. ...

Other groups practice civil disobedience by violating the act in public. However, these challenges have so far met with little success. Civil disobedience encompasses the active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government or of an occupying power without resorting to physical violence. ...

See also

• Copyright
• DMCA
• Ex post facto law
• Intellectual property
• MPAA
• RIAA
• Software Copyright
• United States copyright law

For copyright issues in relation to Wikipedia itself, see Wikipedia:copyrights. ... The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a controversial United States copyright law which criminalizes production and dissemination of technology that can circumvent measures taken to protect copyright, not merely infringement of copyright itself, and heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet. ... An ex post facto law (Latin for from a thing done afterward or after the deed), also known as a retrospective law, is a law that acts retroactively, affecting facts or legal relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law. ... In law, particularly in common law jurisdictions, intellectual property or IP refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea or of other intangible subject matter. ... The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is a non-profit trade association formed to advance the interests of movie studios. ... The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a special interest group representing the U.S. recording industry, and the body responsible for certifying gold and platinum albums and singles in the USA. For more information about sales data see list of best selling albums and list of best selling... Software copyright, the relatively recent extension of copyright law to software, allowed a market for proprietary software to flourish for some time. ... United States copyright law is rooted in Article One of the United States Constitution, which states: The Congress shall have the power. ...

External links

Documentation from the United States Government

• http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/s505.pdf

Views of Opponents

• The Eric Eldred Act (http://eldred.cc/)
• http://everything2.com/?node=sonny+bono+copyright+extension+act
• http://archive.nytimes.com/2001/04/30/opinion/30LESS.htm
• Litman Decries Overbroad Copyright Protection (http://www.law.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=law/View&c=Article&cid=ZZZNPOYE27C&live=true&cst=1&pc=0&pa=0) and Mouse Trapped (http://www.law.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=law/View&c=Article&cid=ZZZXH1L3P8C&live=true&cst=1&pc=0&pa=0) by Mike Godwin
• Article in Findlaw's Writ by Chris Sprigman (http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20020305_sprigman.html)
• coverage of opposition by attorney (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.10/lessig.html?pg=5) Lawrence Lessig
• DIGITAL COPYRIGHT by Jessica Litman (http://www.msen.com/~litman/digital-copyright/)
• Opposing Copyright Extension (http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/OpposingCopyrightExtension/)
• Troutgirl weblog: 20030115 (http://www.troutworks.com/Joycelog/joycelog.php?joycedate=20030115)