tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35428618.post3581210562075472035..comments2024-01-20T00:59:08.689+00:00Comments on Brave New World: GBBR: The Final Countdown?Martyn Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02134633193540004531noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35428618.post-57254059094131592072010-02-13T16:45:39.962+00:002010-02-13T16:45:39.962+00:00Perhaps the worst aspect of this dispute is that i...Perhaps the worst aspect of this dispute is that it's delaying what has long needed to be done, a revision of the Berne Convention on copyright, unaltered since 1979, to take into account the new digital technologies.<br /><br />The parties in this dispute, particularly Google, could have pushed for Berne revisions but haven't because the settlement, however bad it may be for authors and publishers, offers something of advantage to each. Their private interests have trumped the broader public interest.<br /><br />It's really strange that in much more stable times Berne was revised an average of once every 11 years, but in the last 31 years of unprecedented change, it hasn't been touched.<br /><br />A major part of the blame lies with the U.S. Congress. When Disney and others gave them money in the late 1990s, they were only too happy to extend copyright protection for twenty years. But with no money being offered for good or ill purposes, they are unable to act.Inklinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05272203500649628022noreply@blogger.com