i think we need copyright reform. currently most works are protected by copyright for the life of the author plus 70 years. here are my two proposals.
18 years. this is enough time for the work to grow to adulthood and begin to care for itself
life of the author + zero years. i like this one because it encourages you to kill people
may I suggest: life of the author -5 years.
now you may be asking yourself, tumblr user cenneidi, how would we implement such a thing given the uncertainties and vagaries of fate? and to that I say: I don't know. i'm not the answers guy, i'm the ideas guy. However, here are some ideas for possible implementation:
copyright oracles to predict the exact date, time, and circumstances of each author's death. this one is cool because when you first publish a work you get to find out how long you have left as a fun little treat!
author must submit a planned departure date alongside any copyright challenge. this is good because it encourages artists to kill themselves, a favorite goal of many on this website
schrodinger's copyright: copyright becomes completely unenforceable until after the author's death, at which time it is retroactively applied to any uses which occurred more than five years previous.
Lifetime of one specific person specified by the creator. This adds gambling mechanics for the creator (hoping the baby they select doesn't become a pack-a-day smoker or develop an interest in cave diving), and for bonus points the person whose life is tied to the copyright can take one for the team if the creator sucks
that's actually already done because of rules against perpetuities. The Royal Lives Clause:
The option must be exercised before the end of the period ending 21 years after the death of the last survivor of all the lineal descendants of His Majesty King Charles III who have been born before the date of this agreement.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_lives_clause
To be fair, they're not a specific person, but it does have to be limited like this to a determinable class of people - often the British royal family, sometimes families like the Kennedys.
