Even Mark Twain had a problem with copyright laws. While his stance didn’t go as far as a perpetual copyright, he did want a copyright that was secured through the life of his children. I think something along the lines of what we’ve got today would suit the man just fine.
He noted on more than one occasion that the grandkids should fend for themselves, but for Twain and his daughters, he sought to combat “the pirates.”
The “pirates” Twain referred to were publishers who would profit from his works that would be popular long after his death so the “immortal” publishers could benefit from his work while leaving his daughters out in the cold. From the Ars Technica article, I think Twain would object to what the government is doing with copyright laws today. The seemingly never-ending expansion of copyrights is taking away more and more what we, the public in “public domain,” can do with anything made by anyone. Next thing we know people will come out of the woodworks and lay claim to the lineage of Virgil or Homer so they can expand copyright laws further and make money off of being born, which seems to be the entire purpose of this “rich get richer” concept of the modern copyright. I think we need to pull back the reins on our politicians who are answering to none other than the the al-ighty -ollar to help everyone benefit from works that have compensated their creators many times over and have had a good run without worrying about all the crazy copyright laws that limit you from doing anything with anything.
