We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
596
10
The problem of inconsistent terms has become even more pressing with the development of new digital technology. In the era of the Global Information Infrastructure, borders are entirely permeable, making it critical that works be protected at the same time everywhere." The House Report to the 1976 Act in this respect was prophetic: "Copyrighted works move across national borders faster and more easily than virtually any other economic commodity, and with the techniques now in common use this movement has in many cases become instantaneous and effortless. The need to conform the duration of U.S. copyright to that prevalent throughout the rest of the world is increasingly pressing in order to provide certainty and simplicity in international business dealings.""
Opponents of the legislation argue that while harmonization of term may be desirable, it is not sufficient reason to change U.S. law. They urge that the United States should act as a leader in the international community, not a follower of the E.U.'s agenda. Since our copyright system has been so successful, they suggest that we should persuade Europe to adopt our approach to copyright. The choice of term, however, has little to do with any dichotomy between basic philosophies of copyright, such as natural rights versus economic incentives. The argument is also based on the premise that extending the copyright term would make the United States a follower, while refusing to do so would constitute leadership. But the United States could position itself as a leader in setting an international standard of life plus 70, working with the E.U. to persuade other countries to follow our example.
The more fundamental point is that harmonization of term provides a meaningful public benefit, and therefore should be factored into the overall balance of positives and negatives. If the balance of domestic policy is deemed to be uncertain, it would be appropriate to make the choice that achieves this beneficial international consistency.
5 . General arguments
Recognizing the theoretical existence of benefits from extension, opponents characterize them as merely speculative. Today there exists a body of works with ongoing commercial value, which are near the end of their copyright term. It is therefore
" See Information Infrastructure Task Force, Intellectual Propertv and the National Information Infrastructure: A Preliminary Draft of the Report of the Working Group on Intellectual Propertv Rights 135 (July 1994) .
" H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476, 94th Cong., 2d Sess . 135 (1976).