zotz's Journal: Some thoughts on a "Copyright Offensive"

Here are some thoughts for your consideration:

1. All 'non'marked' works get an automatic copyleft, not an automatic copyright.

2. Copyleft works can be registered for free, copyright works incurr a registration fee.

3. There is a yearly copyright tax imposed on copyright works, copyleft works are exempt.

4. The copyright tax is based on a percentage of the copyright holder declared value of the work.

5. The copyright holder will be encouraged to declare an honest value by having to sell the copyright to to work at the declared value or 5 percent above that value to any and all comers. At the value if the purchaser will put the work under a copyleft, 5 percent above if the purchaser will keep the work copyright.

6. Copyright status lasts for 10 years, then the works convert to copyleft for another ten then they go into the public domain.

7. Orignally copyleft works remain copyleft for the life of the author (and perhaps plys whatever.)

8. Works building on public domain works are not elegible for copyright status, only copyleft. (Does this make any practical sense??)

all the best,

drew

Interesting

[Paradise Pete]

#1: I like this, but with some amount of grace period to get a copyright.
#2: OK.
#3: I think the tax rate should be very small at first and much larger towards the end. This does a few things - it gives a small fry a chance to make some money, and then later encourages early "retirement" of the copyright.
#4: Hard to judge, but interesting. I think this needs some thought/work.
#5: Encourages "copyright squatting." There'd be companies with no other function than to sit and wait for a work to suddenly get

Re:

[zotz]

"#1: I like this, but with some amount of grace period to get a copyright."

Could work but would cause problems. If you can't remember to put a copyright notice on your work when you publish it, it gets a copyleft. You want a copyright put a notice.

"#3: I think the tax rate should be very small at first and much larger towards the end. This does a few things - it gives a small fry a chance to make some money, and then later encourages early "retirement" of the copyright."

I see you point and I doubt I would f

value

[1u3hr]

5. The copyright holder will be encouraged to declare an honest value by having to sell the copyright to to work at the declared value

The value of a copyright is very variable. If it's a novel, it could be worth $100; but if optioned as a movie, $1 million. And many other ways the value could change, and the author is unlikely to be in a good position to judge this and would either lowball himself or set the value too high, more depending on his ego than any rational system. I think it's simpler and ulti