Macaulay on copyright
In 1841, Thomas Babbington Macaulay made a speech in the British Parliament against an act that would have extended copyright terms to 60 years after an author’s death. In 2002, a kuro5hin member posted the speech online. Today, I’ve finally read it, and would make some comments.
Macaulay argued from three points. First, that a long copyright is a monopoly and an evil, leading to high prices and limiting the public’s access to printed material; if the Parliament were to legislate a monopoly into being, it would better have some damn good reasons. Second, that a long (and especially, a posthumous) copyright term would give little to no added incentive to an author. And third, that long copyrights would mean that in many cases, a hostile party (religious fanatics, children who hate their parent’s writings, etc.) could get control of the copyright of a work, and prevent its distribution.
Today, the copyright environment is somewhat different. Copyright holders are often not individuals but corporations. Corporations don’t die; Macaulay’s argument on posthumous benefit don’t apply to them. One might then argue that since a corporation has a duty to its shareholders to use its intellectual property to the full extent possible, a long copyright term would be a much greater inducement for a corporation to invest in new creative works.
Such an argument would, in my humble opinion, be wrong. Why did the US extend its copyright terms throughout the 20th century — and why did it strongarm the rest of the world into doing the same? Because of Disney. In 1928, Walt Disney invented Mickey Mouse. Since then, Disney has repeatedly lobbied US Congress to extend copyright terms so that Disney would not lose their rights to the round-eared rodent. Had Disney been successful in creating new creative content, would it have lobbied so hard for extending its monopoly on Mickey Mouse hats? No. Disney decided that creating new works is risky; milking an old cash cow is safe. What works would Disney have produced had its rights on Mickey and Minnie run out a few decades ago? What new characters would it have developed in a desperate bid to claw its way back into profitability? We will never know. If copyright is, essentially, forever, what’s the point of taking risks and creating new works?
Macaulay’s speech should be required reading for copylefters worldwide.