Blackmoor Vituperative

My personal opinion is that the entire structure of intellectiual property law in the USA and much of the world is so grievously broken that it will soon be either scrapped or ignored by the average person. We are all aware of how ridiculous patent law has become. Trademarks and copyrights are not far behind. You have probably heard about “Happy Birthday”, for example:

The Chicago-based music publisher Clayton F. Summy Company, working with Jessica Hill, published and copyrighted “Happy Birthday” in 1935. Under the laws in effect at the time, the Hills’ copyright would have expired after one 28-year term and a renewal of similar length, falling into public domain by 1991. However, the Copyright Act of 1976 extended the term of copyright protection to 75 years from date of publication, and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 added another 20 years, so under current law the copyright protection of “Happy Birthday” will remain intact until at least 2030. (Urban Legends Reference Pages, http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/birthday.htm)

I would be willing to bet a sizeable sum that “Happy Birthday” never becomes public domain. Does that seem right to you?