The Pirate Act? Somebody stop this nonsense!

The Pirate Act is the most insane piece of legislation to come down the pike since the Patriot Act. It gives the Attorney General the right to sue copyright infringers in civil court for damages on behalf of copyright holders without their consultation.

Why is this a good a idea?

First, Courts are already overrun with civil cases. It can take months to get a hearing on any case in civil court. Now we are going to allow the Federal Government to prosecute civil cases?

Secondly, large corporations are the only ones who hold enough copyrights for there to be enough infringement to warrant federal government involvement. Last I checked these companies have plenty of money and many lawyers on retainer to handle these kinds of cases. Why would they need the US taxpayers to fund prosecution of civil trials for them?

The answer is quite clear. The large corporations do not need the help, they just don't like the public relations problems they are having over suing every 12-18 year old citizen who is downloading music on the internet. They see this as a way to shift the blame off themselves and onto the Attorney General. The sad part is our elected officials are on their side!

The increase in copyright length over the past 30 years is nothing short of an all out assault on the average user of copyrighted material and innovation derived from prior works. Large corporations aren't interested in innovation, they are interested in using increased copyright length to continue the monopolies they enjoy on many properties. The biggest proponent of increased copyright length? Walt Disney Corporation. Why? Walt Disney died in 1966. At that time copyright ended 14 years after the death of the copyright owner and if the owner of a copyright was a corporation it had it for 14 years plus 14 more available upon renewal. In 1976, the congress lengthened it to 78 years for a corporation by tacking on 50 years to the 28 and no longer making a renewal necessary. They also lengthened it for an individual to 50 years after the death of a copyright holder. Uncle Walt held many copyrights as did his company, so they lobbied congress for the change.

Then the lobbied it again in 1998 and won a further lengthening by claiming that the copyright on "Mickey Mouse" would run out in 2002 if nothing was done. They claimed it would ruin the image of Mickey if he were allowed into the public domain.

What a crock of dung. They were only concerned with their greedy little pocket books.

Is the Mona Lisa any less brilliant because no company owns the copyright to it? NO. How about Beethoven's 5th symphony? What about the movie "It's a Wonderful Life?" Did you know it entered the public domain before the 1976 copyright law changes?

Why do you think it is on so much at Christmas time? It is free of royalty payments, so T.V. stations play it over and over again. Is this bad? No.

So... now we have effectively stopped ANYTHING from entering the public domain for the next 20 years and we want the Attorney General to take those who are trying to preserve the works of dead copyright holders to civil court? Why? We want him to flood the courts with 12 year olds who download music? Why?

It is time Copyright law had a return to sanity. Roll it back to 14 years plus 14 on renewal. Stop the insanity! Write your congressmen and Senators and put a stop to the Pirate Act BEFORE it becomes law!