Build Date: Thu Feb 12 06:20:15 2026 UTC
My problem with spontaneous human combustion is that never seems to happen to the "right" people.
-- Johnnie Royale
Help Reclaim the Public Domain
2004-06-16 21:38:37
Would you like to have a positive impact on copyright law, take a stand against corporate greed, and help put works back in the public domain that belong there? Lawrence Lessig needs your story.
Lawrence Lessig and friends have filed a lawsuit.
Kahle v. Ashcroft is a lawsuit challenging recent changes to U.S. copyright law which created a large number of "orphan works." Orphan works are copyrighted works which are no longer commercially available, but are still regulated by copyright -- not a part of the public domain like they would be if not for recent changes made to copyright law on behalf of the Disney Corporation.
To win the lawsuit, they need your help. They need more examples -- your personal stories -- telling how you were affected by copyright-related barriers when you tried to use orphan works.
Yeah, not necessarily something that happens everyday, but if you work in any media industry and you needed to secure rights to an orphaned work, but couldn't because you couldn't track down the copyright holder -- or had other problems securing rights to the material -- your story could help win the lawsuit. More info and examples can be found at http://notabug.com/kahle/.
Help reclaim the public domain!
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