Tuesday, December 24, 2019

[bfqllxax] Alpha Centauri before public domain

Which will happen first: a song that came out this year becoming public domain, or humans colonizing Alpha Centauri?

Original thought: will Alpha Centaurian colonists need a license from Disney to copy "Let it Go"?

It's conceivable humans will get to Alpha Centauri in the next 95 years, and that optimistically assumes copyright will not get retroactively extended again.  It's inconceivable that Congress will decrease copyright.  It's depressingly conceivable that Congress might increase copyright to perpetuity.

Don't think you can escape the long arm of copyright enforcement by heading out to the stars.  Copyright lawyers can wait, then chase you down in a faster starship.

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