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92-683: The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act – also known as the Copyright Term Extension Act , Sonny Bono Act , or (derisively) the Mickey Mouse Protection Act – extended copyright terms in the United States in 1998. It is one of several acts extending the terms of copyright . Following the Copyright Act of 1976 , copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years (or

184-637: A hook hits you, ... then you're almost not writing, lyrics come to you, a sort of magic takes over, and it's not like work at all." -Sonny Bono on songwriting, 1967 Pop Chronicles interview. In 2011, Sonny Bono was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. Bono's acting career included bit parts as a guest performer in such television series as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (appearing with Cher in "The Hot Number Affair"), Fantasy Island , Charlie's Angels , The Love Boat , The Six Million Dollar Man and CHiPs . In

276-518: A bill that would roll back the copyright term for new works to match to the 1909 Copyright Act, but also applies retroactively to works by a group of large companies specifically designed to target Disney. Sarah Jeong of The Verge criticized the bill for obviously violating international agreements and the Fifth Amendment protections against eminent domain , as an attempt to punish Disney for opposing Florida House Bill 1557 , and because it

368-409: A career as a songwriter and performer. He worked at a variety of jobs while trying to break into the music business, including waiter, truck driver, construction laborer, and butcher's helper. Bono began his music career as a songwriter at Specialty Records , where his song "Things You Do to Me" was recorded by Sam Cooke , and went on to work for record producer Phil Spector in the early 1960s as

460-592: A copyright notice upon first publication to gain coverage. In Italy and France, there were post-wartime extensions that could increase the term by approximately six years in Italy and up to about 14 in France. Many countries have extended the length of their copyright terms (sometimes retroactively ). International treaties, like the Berne Convention , establish minimum terms for copyrights, but these only apply to

552-554: A decreased knowledge production on copyright term increases for the analysed context. As a curiosity, the work Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up is subject in the UK to a special clause in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 that granted Great Ormond Street Hospital a right to royalty in perpetuity. J. M. Barrie had gifted the copyright to the work to the hospital in 1929. The different copyright terms in

644-429: A derivative work (or perhaps even re-released the work in ipse ), he could counter a suit made by the copyright holder by declaring that Congress had unconstitutionally made, ex post facto , a restriction on the previously unrestricted. Howard Besser questioned the proponents' argument that "new works would not be created", which implies that the goal of copyright is to make the creation of new works possible. However,

736-493: A paper on the impact of the copyright extension on the British Copyright Act of 1814 that "longer copyrights raise the costs of accessing intellectual assets for consumers and other firms, which may discourage the diffusion of knowledge and decelerate the pace of cumulative innovation and learning-by-doing ." In 2014 a Rock, Paper, Shotgun article about the existence of orphaned classic video games and

828-559: A performer. He played a major part in Cher's early solo recording career, writing and producing singles including " Bang Bang " and " You Better Sit Down Kids ". Under a pseudonym, Bono co-wrote "She Said Yeah", covered by The Rolling Stones on their 1965 LP Out of Our Heads . His lone hit single as a solo artist, " Laugh at Me ", was released in 1965 and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. In live concerts, Bono introduced

920-455: A promotion man, percussionist and " gofer ". One of his earliest songwriting efforts, " Needles and Pins " was co-written with Jack Nitzsche , another member of Spector's production team. In 1965, he achieved commercial success with his wife Cher in the singing duo Sonny & Cher . Bono wrote, arranged and produced a number of hit records including the singles " I Got You Babe " and " The Beat Goes On ", although Cher received more attention as

1012-416: A random sample of newly posted works on Amazon.com revealed that public domain works from 1880 were posted at double the rate of copyrighted works from 1980. [REDACTED] Works related to Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act at Wikisource Copyright terms Copyright subsists for a variety of lengths in different jurisdictions. The length of the term can depend on several factors, including

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1104-420: A small number of renewed works, within a span of 40 years, entered the public domain: From 2019 onwards, works published in a given year enter the public domain at the end of the 95th calendar year after publication. For example, works published in 1928 entered the public domain on January 1, 2024 . The Senate Report gave the official reasons for passing copyright extension laws and was originally written in

1196-416: A special section ( 17 U.S.C.   § 303 ) and may remain protected until the end of 2047. The Act became Pub. L.   105–298 (text) (PDF) on October 27, 1998. Prior to the passage of the 1976 Copyright Act, Congress passed nine incremental extensions between 1962 and 1974 for works that were in their renewal term whose copyright began between September 19, 1906, and December 31, 1918. In

1288-587: A successful bid for mayor, and served from 1988 to 1992. As mayor, Bono spearheaded the creation of the Palm Springs International Film Festival , which is held each year in his memory. Bono ran for the Republican nomination for United States Senate in 1992, but lost to the more conservative Bruce Herschensohn , who lost the general election to Democrat Barbara Boxer . Bono and Herschensohn became close friends after

1380-620: A term of endearment, which evolved over time into "Sonny". Sonny was the youngest of three siblings; he had two sisters, Fran and Betty. The family moved to Inglewood, California , when he was seven, and his parents divorced soon afterwards. Bono decided early in life to become part of the music business, and began writing songs as a teenager. "Koko Joe", a song he wrote at age 16, was recorded by Don and Dewey in 1958, and later covered by several other artists including The Righteous Brothers . Bono attended Inglewood High School , but did not graduate, opting to drop out so he could begin to pursue

1472-464: A term of the author's life plus seventy years. The act was named in memory of the late Congressman Sonny Bono , who died nine months before the act became law: he had previously been one of twelve sponsors of a similar bill. House members sympathetic to restaurant and bar owners, who were upset over ASCAP and BMI licensing practices, almost derailed the Act. As a result, the bill was amended to include

1564-640: A valid limited time according to the letter of the Constitution as long as Congress was ostensibly setting this limit to promote the progress of science and useful arts. This was one of the arguments that prevailed in the Eldred v. Ashcroft case, when the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the CTEA. It is also pointed out by proponents that the extension did not prevent all works from going in

1656-458: A vehicle for achieving social benefit based on the belief that encouragement of individual effort by personal gain is the best way to advance the public welfare;" however, "the U.S. does not consider copyright as a 'natural right. ' " Dixon continues that with increased extensions on copyright protections, authors receive the benefits, while the public have more difficulty accessing these works, weakening public domain. One such extension Dixon mentions

1748-682: A work that is in the public domain for fear that they will not be able to recoup their investment or earn enough profit. Proponents reject the idea that only works in the public domain can provide artistic inspiration. They note that opponents fail to take into account that copyright applies only to expressions of ideas and not the ideas themselves. Thus artists are free to get ideas from copyrighted works as long as they do not infringe . Borrowing ideas and such are common in film, TV and music even with copyrighted works (see scènes à faire , idea-expression divide and stock character ). Works such as parody benefit from fair use . Proponents also question

1840-509: Is difficult, or impossible, to trace the copyright ownership and determine who holds the particular rights that would have to be licensed for the use of the work. The problem of such orphan works stems from the extension of copyright term and the lack of requirement for the copyright owner to renew or register their copyright . In order to tackle this perceived problem some jurisdictions have revised their copyright laws to allow use of orphaned works, after diligent searches. Discussions about

1932-401: Is more important to encourage all creators to make new works instead of just copyright holders. Proponents say that copyright better preserves intellectual property like movies, music and television shows. One example given is the case of the classic film It's a Wonderful Life . Before Republic Pictures and Spelling Entertainment (who owned the motion picture rights to the short story and

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2024-583: Is prevented due "to the copyright holder's veto". As examples he gave the adaption of the plot from novels such as The Great Gatsby and Peter Pan , the refashion of characters like Mickey Mouse , or the use of Tin Pan Alley songs like " Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) " for documentaries about the Great Depression . For the millions of older copyrighted works of less enduring popularity, it

2116-464: Is still alive, and Bono uses his power as Mayor of Palm Springs to have Waggoner falsely arrested so he can have Dorothy to himself. Sophia ( Estelle Getty ) had been hoping for Sonny and Dorothy to get together and actively supported Sonny. Bono entered politics after experiencing frustration with local government bureaucracy while trying to open a restaurant in Palm Springs, California . He made

2208-431: Is the protection of a copyrighted work for the author's life followed by two generations, which opponents argue that there is no legislation nor intention for this copyright protection. "These constitutionally-grounded arguments 'for limitations on proprietary rights' are being rejected time and time again." Dennis S. Karjala , a law professor, led an effort to try to prevent the CTEA from being passed. He testified before

2300-435: Is unlikely to pass in a Congress where Democrats control both houses. In 2012, law professors Christopher Buccafusco and Paul J. Heald performed tests of three key justifications of copyright extension, namely: that public domain works will be underutilized and less available, will be oversaturated by poor quality copies, and poor quality derivative works will harm the reputation of the original works. They compared works from

2392-555: Is widely reported, the reaction to it in the House of Commons is hard to find – Ricketson reports that following Macaulay's claims that the heirs of certain authors would block publication of their works: At this point, the debate in the House of Commons fell into farce because there were claims by other speakers that they had no doubts (based on their own personal knowledge) that Richardson and Boswell 's descendants would still have done

2484-474: The Eldred v. Ashcroft decision, the Supreme Court noted that these extensions "were all temporary placeholders subsumed into the systemic changes effected by the 1976 Act." As a result, these works entered the public domain on January 1, following the end of the 75th calendar year after their publication. Under the international Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886,

2576-589: The VeggieTales episode "Dave and the Giant Pickle"; in the Silly Songs with Larry segment I Love My Lips (original version). Bono guest-starred as himself on The Golden Girls episode "Mrs. George Devereaux" (originally broadcast November 17, 1990), in which he vied with Lyle Waggoner for Dorothy's ( Bea Arthur ) affection in a dream sequence. In Blanche's ( Rue McClanahan ) dream, her husband

2668-489: The Bono Act consider the legislation to be corporate welfare and have tried (but failed) to have it declared unconstitutional in the process Eldred v. Ashcroft , 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

2760-649: The Copyright Act of 1976 . After the United States' accession to the Berne convention, a number of 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 . Since the 1993 Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection , member states of the European Union implemented protection for

2852-707: The Fairness in Music Licensing Act , which exempted smaller establishments from needing a public performance license to play music. Both houses of the United States Congress passed the act as Public Law 105-298 with a voice vote . President Bill Clinton signed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 on October 27, 1998. As a result of extensions, including the 1976 and 1998 extensions,

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2944-854: The Motion Picture Association of America , the Intellectual Property Law Section of the American Bar Association, the Recording Industry Association of America , National Music Publishers Association , the Information Technology Association of America and others. Publishers and librarians, among others, brought a lawsuit, Eldred v. Ashcroft , to obtain an injunction on enforcement of the act. Oral arguments were heard by

3036-718: The U.S. Supreme Court on October 9, 2002. On January 15, 2003, the court held the CTEA constitutional by a 7–2 decision. In 2003, the plaintiffs in the Eldred case began 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 . In May 2022, Senator Josh Hawley (R- MO ) introduced

3128-447: The 'Music Theft Act' and claimed that it was a mechanism to "steal the intellectual property of thousands of small businesspeople who are song writers in this land." The majority of subsequent debate was over Sensenbrenner's House Amendment 532 to the CTEA. This amendment was over details of allowing music from radio and television broadcasts in small businesses to be played without licensing fees. An amendment to Sensenbrenner's amendment

3220-418: The 1790 act, but patent terms have not been extended in parallel, with 20-year terms of protection remaining the (presumably under the laws) adequate compensation for innovation in a technical field. Seventeen prominent economists and libertarians , including Nobel Prize laureates ( George Akerlof , Kenneth Arrow , James Buchanan , Ronald Coase , and Milton Friedman ), submitted an amicus brief opposing

3312-646: The 1975 TV movie Murder on Flight 502 , he played the role of rock star Jack Marshall. He appeared in the 1980 miniseries Top of the Hill . He played the role of mad bomber Joe Selucci in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) and appeared in the horror film Troll (1986). He also portrayed racist entrepreneur Franklin Von Tussle in the John Waters film Hairspray (1988). He also appeared as

3404-763: The Act encourages "offshore production," in which derivative works could be created outside the United States in areas where copyright would have expired, but US law would prohibit these works from being shown to US residents. For example, a cartoon of Mickey Mouse playing with a computer could be legally created in Russia, but the cartoon would be refused admission for importation by US Customs due to infringing US copyrights. Opponents identify another possible harm from copyright extension: loss of productive value of private collections of copyrighted works. A person who collected copyrighted works that would soon "go out of copyright", intending to re-release them on copyright expiration, lost

3496-418: The Bono Act were Time Warner , Universal , Viacom , ASCAP , the major professional sports leagues ( NFL , NBA , NHL , MLB ), and the family of slain singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez . 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

3588-561: 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. Some opponents have questioned the proponents' life expectancy argument, making the comparison between the growth of copyright terms and the term of patents in relation to

3680-752: The Church of Scientology] at one point, and they made it very difficult for him." The Church of Scientology said there was no estrangement from Bono. Bono died on January 5, 1998, of injuries incurred when he hit a tree while skiing at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, California . At Mary's request, Cher gave a eulogy at Sonny's funeral. He was buried at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California . The epitaph on Bono's headstone reads "AND THE BEAT GOES ON". Mary Bono

3772-584: The Committees on the Judiciary arguing "that extending the term of copyright protection would impose substantial costs on the United States general public without supplying any public benefit. The extension bills represent a fundamental departure from the United States philosophy that intellectual property legislation serve a public purpose." An editorial in The New York Times argued against

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3864-556: The European Union , the Sonny Bono Act did not revive copyrights that had already expired, and therefore is not retroactive in that sense. The Act did extend the terms of protection set for works that were already copyrighted and were created before it took effect, so it is retroactive in that sense. However, works created before January 1, 1978, but not published or registered for copyright until recently, are addressed in

3956-505: The European Union had extended copyright there for 20 years, and so EU works would be protected for 20 years longer than US works if the US did not enact similar term extensions. Howard Coble also stated that it was good for consumers since "When works are protected by copyright, they attract investors who can exploit the work for profit." The term extension portion was supported by Songwriters Guild of America , National Academy of Songwriters ,

4048-447: The European Union while ensuring fair compensation for American creators who deserve to benefit fully from the exploitation of their works. Moreover, by stimulating the creation of new works and providing enhanced economic incentives to preserve existing works, such an extension will enhance the long-term volume, vitality and accessibility of the public domain. The authors of the report believed that extending copyright protection would help

4140-550: The Framers of the United States Constitution evidently thought that unnecessary, instead restricting the goal of copyright 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 and resources to find the owner of copyright in

4232-486: The Mayor of Palm Springs (which he actually was at the time) in several episodes of P.S. I Luv U during the 1991–92 TV season, and on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (in season 1, episode 9 "The Man of Steel Bars", which aired November 21, 1993), in which he played Mayor Frank Berkowitz. He also made a minor appearance as himself in the comedy film First Kid (1996). A portrait of Bono also appeared in

4324-568: The United States and the United Kingdom ) copyright expires at the end of the calendar year in question. The length and requirements for copyright duration are subject to change by legislation, and since the early 20th century there have been a number of adjustments made in various countries, which can make determining the copyright duration in a given country difficult. For example, the United States used to require copyrights to be renewed after 28 years to stay in force, and formerly required

4416-495: The United States and Europe would negatively affect the international operations of the entertainment industry , and that some works would be created under a longer copyright that would never be created under the existing copyright. They also claim that copyrighted works are an important source of income to the US and that media such as VHS , DVD , cable and satellite have increased the value and commercial life of movies and television series. Proponents contend that Congress has

4508-407: The United States by providing more protection for their works in foreign countries and by giving more incentive to digitize and preserve works since there was an exclusive right in them. The report also included minority opinions by Herb Kohl and Hank Brown , who believed that the term extensions were a financial windfall to current owners of copyrighted material at the expense of the public's use of

4600-649: The act. Mary Bono, speaking on the floor of the United States House of Representatives , said: Actually, Sonny wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever. I am informed by staff that such a change would violate the Constitution . ... As you know, there is also [then- MPAA president] Jack Valenti 's proposal for term to last forever less one day. Perhaps the Committee may look at that next Congress. Other parties that lobbied in favor of

4692-402: The author plus 70 years and for works of corporate authorship to 95 years from publication or 120 years after creation, whichever end is earlier. For works published before January 1, 1978, the 1998 act extended the renewal term from 47 years to 67 years, granting a total of 95 years. This law effectively froze the advancement date of the public domain in the United States for works covered by

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4784-502: The bill when it was challenged in court. They argued that the discounted present value of the extension was only a 1% increase for newly created works, while the increase in transaction costs created by extending the terms of old works would be very large and without any marginal benefit. According to Lawrence Lessig , when asked to sign the brief, Friedman had originally insisted that it include "the word 'no-brainer' in it somewhere," but still agreed to sign it even though his condition

4876-511: The campaign. In 1994, Bono planned to run for lieutenant governor, but decided to run for Congress when Republican Al McCandless announced his retirement. Bono won the Republican nomination and the general election to represent California's 44th congressional district . He was reelected in 1996, and served from January 1995 until his death. In the House, Bono was one of 12 co-sponsors of a House bill extending copyright . Although that bill

4968-588: The context of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1995. The purpose of the bill is to ensure adequate copyright protection for American works in foreign nations and the continued economic benefits of a healthy surplus balance of trade in the exploitation of copyrighted works. The bill accomplishes these goals by extending the current U.S. copyright term for an additional 21 years. Such an extension will provide significant trade benefits by substantially harmonizing U.S. copyright law to that of

5060-459: The copyright extension on February 21, 1998. The article stated "When Senator Hatch laments that George Gershwin 's Rhapsody in Blue will soon 'fall into the public domain,' he makes the public domain sound like a dark abyss where songs go, never to be heard again. In fact, when a work enters the public domain it means the public can afford to use it freely, to give it new currency." Opponents of

5152-555: The court explained how a copyright "respects and adequately safeguards the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment." In following this approach, courts have held that copyrights are "categorically immune from challenges under the First Amendment." Critics of the CTEA argue that it was never the original intention for copyright protection to be extended in the United States. Attorney Jenny L. Dixon mentions that "the United States has always viewed copyright primarily as

5244-606: The first verse of American Pie) the McCollum Amendment was rejected by a vote of 259 to 150 and the Sensenbrenner amendment was passed by 297 to 112. The Copyright Term Extension Act H.R. 2589 was passed. The term extension was supported for two key reasons. First, "copyright industries give us [the United States] one of our most significant trade surpluses." Second, the recently enacted legislation in

5336-531: The growth of life expectancies. Life expectancies have risen from about 35 years in 1800 to 77.6 years in 2002. While copyright terms have increased threefold, from only 28 years total (under the Copyright Act of 1790 ), life expectancies have roughly doubled. Moreover, life expectancy statistics are skewed due to historically high infant mortality rates. Correcting for infant mortality, life expectancy has only increased by fifteen years between 1850 and 2000. In addition, copyright terms have increased significantly since

5428-467: The idea that extended copyright is "corporate welfare". They state that many opponents also have a stake in the case, claiming that those arguing against copyright term extension are mostly businesses that depend on distributing films and videos that have lost their copyright. One argument against the CTEA is focused on the First Amendment . In Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises , however,

5520-438: The last surviving author), or 75 years from publication or 100 years after creation, whichever is shorter for a work of corporate authorship ( works made for hire ) and anonymous and pseudonymous works. The 1976 Act also increased the renewal term for works copyrighted before 1978 that had not already entered the public domain from 28 years to 47 years, giving a total term of 75 years. The 1998 Act extended these terms to life of

5612-593: The least objectionable way of remunerating them is by means of copyright. Liebowitz describes use of the term monopoly in relation to copyright as misleading, but "rhetorically effective"; while Towse writes that a more appropriate term is ' monopolistic competition '. In 2009, a paper by Rufus Pollock of University of Cambridge scientifically quantified the optimal copyright term length at 15 years, significantly shorter than any currently existing copyright term, via an economical model with empirically-estimable parameters . In 2013 scholar Petra Moser concluded in

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5704-595: The lives of the inhabitants of Bombay Beach , Niland and Salton City , as well as the ecological issues associated with the Sea. He became interested in Scientology and took Scientology courses partly because of the influence of Mimi Rogers , but stated that he was a Roman Catholic on all official documents, campaign materials and websites. His wife Mary also took Scientology courses. However, after his death, Mary Bono stated that "Sonny did try to break away [from

5796-508: 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, such as Disney. They also point out that the Tenth Amendment can be construed as placing limits on 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

5888-425: The material. Since 1990, The Walt Disney Company had lobbied for copyright extension. The legislation delayed the entry into the public domain of the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons, leading detractors to the nickname "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act". In addition to Disney, California congresswoman Mary Bono (Sonny Bono's widow and Congressional successor), and the estate of composer George Gershwin supported

5980-817: The media toward celebrities. Bono remains the only member of Congress to have scored a number-one pop single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Bono was married four times. He married his first wife, Donna Rankin, on November 3, 1954. Their daughter Christine ("Christy") was born on June 24, 1958. They divorced in 1962. In 1964 Bono married Cherilyn Sarkisian, later known as singer and actress Cher . The couple had one child named Chastity, later known as Chaz , born in 1969. The couple divorced in 1975. On New Year's Eve 1981 Bono married actress-model Susie Coelho , they divorced in 1984. In 1986 he married Mary Whitaker . The couple had two children: son Chesare Elan in 1988 and daughter Chianna Maria in 1991. Mary

6072-418: The music even after the film itself became public domain) began to assert their rights to the film, various local TV stations and cable networks broadcast the film endlessly. As New York Times reporter Bill Carter put it: "the film's currency was being devalued." Many different versions of the film were made and most if not all were in horrible condition. After underlying rights to the film were enforced, it

6164-497: The older fixed term copyright rules. Under this Act, works made in 1923 or afterwards that were still protected by copyright in 1998 would not enter the public domain until January 1, 2019, or later. Mickey Mouse specifically, having first appeared in 1928 in Steamboat Willie , entered the public domain in 2024 with other works following later in accordance with the product's date. Unlike copyright extension legislation in

6256-517: The optimal length of the copyright term (e.g. regarding the copyright's incentive for creative production ) is a significant part of public and scientific discourse and reception. One of the earlier and often cited positions is from the British politician Thomas Babington Macaulay who argued in an 1841 speech in the House of Commons that copyright is a monopoly and as such has generally negative effects on society. Although Macaulay's speech

6348-456: The original work and purchase a license, 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). Thus they argue that a rich, continually replenished, public domain is necessary for continued artistic creation. The House debated the Copyright Term Extension Act (House Resolution 390) on March 25, 1998. The term extension

6440-456: 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 what respect the granted time must be limited has never been determined, thus arguably even an absurdly long, yet finite, duration would still be

6532-480: The public domain. They note that the 1976 Copyright Act established that unpublished works created before 1978 would still begin entering the public domain January 1, 2003 (Known author: life of the author plus 70 years; anonymous/pseudoanonymous/unknown author/works-for-hire: 120 years from creation), and that the provision remained unaffected by the 1998 extension. They also claim that Congress has actually increased

6624-459: The right thing and allowed reprinting, however much they abhorred their ancestors' works! It is also worth noting that Macaulay is arguing here against term extension, he is not arguing against copyright. This point is well made by Macaulay himself: The advantages arising from a system of copyright are obvious. It is desirable that we should have a supply of good books: we cannot have such a supply unless men of letters are liberally remunerated; and

6716-515: The scope of the public domain since, for the first time, unpublished works will enter the public domain. Proponents believe that copyright encourages progress in the arts. With an extension of copyright, future artists have to create something original, rather than reuse old work. However, had the act been in place in the 1960s, it is unlikely that Andy Warhol would have been able to sell or even exhibit any of his work, since it all incorporated previously copyrighted material. Proponents contend that it

6808-423: The shore of the lake on Bono's behalf. In their book Tell Newt to Shut Up , David Maraniss and Michael Weisskopf credit Bono with being the first person to recognize Gingrich's public relations problems in 1995. Drawing on his long experience as a celebrity and entertainment producer, Bono (according to Maraniss and Weisskopf) recognized that Gingrich's status had changed from politician to celebrity and that he

6900-412: The signatory countries are required to provide copyright protection for a minimum term of the life of the author plus fifty years. Additionally, they are permitted to provide for a longer term of protection. The Berne Convention did not come into force for the United States until it was ratified on March 1, 1989, but the U.S. had previously provided for the minimum copyright term the convention required in

6992-468: The signatory countries, and individual countries may grant longer terms than those set out in a treaty. The extension of copyright term imposes tangible restrictions on the public domain . For instance, scholar Neil Netanel argued that Copyright Term Extension Act 1998 prevented the entering of works central to cultural heritage of the US into the public domain. He argued, culturally important dissemination, recasting, or incorporation into new expression

7084-471: The singing duo Sonny & Cher . A member of the Republican Party , Bono served as the 16th mayor of Palm Springs, California , from 1988 to 1992, and served as the U.S. representative for California's 44th district from 1995 until his death in 1998. The United States Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, which extended the term of copyright by 20 years, was named in honor of Bono when it

7176-433: The song by saying "I'd like to sing a medley of my hit". His only other single as a solo artist, "The Revolution Kind", reached No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 later that year. His solo album, Inner Views , was released in 1967. Bono continued to work with Cher through the early and mid-1970s, starring in a popular television variety show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour , which ran on CBS from 1971 to 1974. Around

7268-564: The suggestion of letting them enter the public domain after 20 years raised a controversial public debate about copyright terms and the public domain between game industry veterans John Walker , George Broussard , and Steve Gaynor. A paper published in March 2015 in the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation analysed with a simulated model the relationship of scientific knowledge creation to copyright term length and concluded

7360-503: The time that The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour was in development, Bono grew his now famous mustache, he would continue to wear it for the rest of his life. In 1974, his solo variety show, The Sonny Comedy Revue , ran on ABC for one season. From 1976 to 1977, the duo, since divorced, returned to perform together on The Sonny and Cher Show . Their last appearance together was on Late Night with David Letterman on November 13, 1987, on which they sang " I Got You Babe ". "What we call

7452-413: The two decades surrounding 1923 made available as audiobooks. They found that copyrighted works were significantly less likely to be available than public domain ones, found no evidence of overexploitation driving down the price of works, and that the quality of the audiobook recordings did not significantly affect the price people were willing to pay for the books in print. Heald's later experiment analyzing

7544-434: The type of work (e.g. musical composition or novel ), whether the work has been published or not, and whether the work was created by an individual or a corporation. In most of the world, the default length of copyright is the life of the author plus either 50 or 70 years. In the United States, the term for most existing works is a fixed number of years after the date of creation or publication. In most countries (for example,

7636-480: The use of their capital expenditures for an additional 20 years when the Bono Act passed. This is part of the underlying argument in Eldred v. Ashcroft . The Bono Act is thus perceived to add an instability to commerce and investment, areas which have a better legal theoretical basis than intellectual property, whose theory is of quite recent development and is often criticized as being a corporate chimera. Conceivably, if one had made such an investment and then produced

7728-483: The various jurisdictions has led to some disputes involving derivative works created and/or sold elsewhere in the world. Several charts have been made to help decipher the various copyright terms in the United States, such as: Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono ( / ˈ b oʊ n oʊ / BOH -noh ; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher , he formed

7820-424: Was almost completely supported, with only the mild criticism by Jim Sensenbrenner (Wisconsin) of "H.R. 2589 provides a very generous windfall to the entertainment industry by extending the term of copyright for an additional 20 years." He suggested that it could be balanced by adding provisions from the Fairness in Music Licensing Act (H.R. 789). Lloyd Doggett (Texas) called the 'Fairness in Music Licensing Act'

7912-399: Was given a high quality restoration that was hailed by critics. In addition, proponents note that once a work falls into the public domain there is no guarantee that the work will be more widely available or cheaper. Suggesting that quality copies of public domain works are not widely available, they argue that one reason for a lack of availability may be due to publishers' reluctance to publish

8004-782: Was never voted on in the Senate, a similar Senate bill was passed after his death and named the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act in his memory. It is also known (derisively) as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. He championed the restoration of the Salton Sea , bringing the giant lake's plight to national attention. In 1998, then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made a public appearance and speech at

8096-411: Was not making allowances for that change: You're a celebrity now... The rules are different for celebrities. I know it. I've been there. I've been a celebrity. I used to be a bigger celebrity. But let me tell you, you're not being handled right. This is not political news coverage. This is celebrity status. You need handlers. You need to understand what you're doing. You need to understand the attitude of

8188-427: Was not met. Another argument against the CTEA is focused on the First Amendment "because of the prospective and retrospective application of the CTEA." The plaintiffs in Eldred v. Reno believed that "the CTEA failed to sustain the intermediate level of scrutiny test afforded by the First Amendment because the government did not have an 'important' interest to justify withholding speech." Opponents also argue that

8280-605: Was passed by Congress nine months after his death. Mary Bono (his widow and successor in Congress) had been one of the original sponsors of the legislation, commonly known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Bono was born in Detroit , the son of Zena "Jean" (née DiMercurio) and Santo Bono. His father was born in Montelepre , Palermo , Italy; his mother was also of Italian descent. His mother called him "Sono" as

8372-538: Was proposed by Bill McCollum . The key differences between Sensenbrenner's proposal and McCollum's amendment were 1) local arbitration versus court lawsuits in rate disagreements, 2) all retail businesses versus only restaurants and bars, 3) 3500 square feet of general public area versus 3,500 square feet (330 m) of gross area, 4) which music licensing societies it applied to (all versus ASCAP and BMI), and 5) freedom from vicarious liability for landlords and others leasing space versus no such provision. After debate (and

8464-469: Was widowed by Sonny's death. Bono was a godparent of Anthony Kiedis of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers ; he was a close friend of Kiedis's father, Blackie Dammett. Bono was a champion of the Salton Sea in southeastern California, where a park was named in his honor. The 2005 documentary film Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea (narrated by John Waters ) features Bono and documented

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