Monday, September 30, 2002
Studios' copyright goal is total control
Valenti blithely quotes the Constitution, saying Congress is the sole authority on what the word "limited" means in the context of Article 8, Section 1. That section says, in part, that Congress has the obligation "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries..."
Valenti quotes the second part. He leaves out the first. We have copyright laws so that creation of useful things will take place — useful knowledge that will belong to all of us after a limited time, so we can all get fuller use of it. To get this valuable result, we give authors and inventors certain — but not absolute — rights and we do so for limited periods.
