monkinetic the blog

R.I.P. - The Public Domain

the-public-domain

This weblog will be wearing a black band for the next while to mourn the death of the public domain in America. That source of so much great art, writing, and ideas is going to wither and die in the face of coporate copyright.

Yes, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 against Eldred in Eldred v. Ashcroft.

What does this mean? It means that any corporation with enough cash can hang onto their copyrighted materials for as long as they can afford to buy themselves a member of Congress.

Lawrence Lessig, who argued the case on behalf of Eric Eldred, has links to the decisions.