The Rational Copyright Pledge

Today I announce my “Rational Copyright Pledge” regarding works to which I own the copyright. I encourage other creators to do the same.

A Brief History of Copyright

[The Congress shall have Power…] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries
— United States Constitution: Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8

Congress was granted the power to make copyright laws to encourage artists and others who create works of art or invention to create them. It was considered a financial and emotional incentive to create new works.

The initial term of copyright, set out in the 1790s, was 14 years with an option to renew for an additional 14 years. Remember this was when people were making pamphlets on hand-cranked printing presses. Yet 14-28 years was considered a sufficient amount of time for them to monetize their work and control derivatives to encourage creation.

It was doubled in the 1830s to 28 + an optional 28. And that’s where it stood for 140 years.

Then, in the 1970s, it was extended from a max of 56 years to life plus 50 years. Not only that, but copyrights owned by corporations were extended to a flat 75 years, essentially extending the copyright on most movies, songs, and books made after 1920.

Let me ask you… was there such a lack of good movies, good music, good novels, etc. produced before 1976 that we had to goad artists to create with that massive extension? Absolutely not. This was big IP (movie studios, record companies, music publishers, and print publishers) using lobbyists to try to squeeze more shareholder value out of the works they owned. Many people have theorized that every time “Steamboat Willie” approached the expiration of its copyright, Disney lobbied to extend it.

In 1998, Sonny Bono sponsored and Congress passed yet another extension of 20 years. “Steamboat Willie” entered the public domain in 2024, over 95 years after release.

When people were hand cranking pamphlets, 14 + 14 was enough to make money. Now that someone can put up an album on iTunes and sell millions of copies overnight, we need life plus 70 years for them to be encouraged to make more art? I call bullshit.

The Value of The Public Domain

We limit patents to 20 years because the value of the public being able to iterate on them and improve on them is immeasurable. This is the same reason why copyright isn’t forever. There are a ton of works that build on other works. Our culture is built in large part upon works in the public domain.

An example I like to give is how badly we’ve been Rickrolled by Congress. If Rick Astley discovered a cure for cancer on the same day he released “Never Gonna Give You Up,” then lived to be 91, the song would be protected by copyright 7 times longer than the cure for cancer. Part of the reason is that science moves fast and inventions don’t hold up as long as works of art, but even so, that’s a ridiculous multiple.

BTW, If Rick Astley ever reads this… Dude, I hope you live to be older than 91 and do so with health and joy. I’m not trying to slam you, but that song has achieved a life of its own.

Whether it’s music, theater, movies, literature, or cures for cancer, society benefits from people being able to build with or upon them when they hit the public domain. Imagine if French lawyers were issuing Cease & Desist letters to preschools for singing the ABC song because the tune is from a 1740s French folk song and there was no public domain. One hundred and twenty three years after the tune to “Happy Birthday to You” was published, it entered the public domain, but only due to a lawsuit. If you’ve been to a restaurant with its own birthday song, it’s probably because they knew Warner-Chappel music had been suing restaurants for singing it to patrons.

My Pledge

I will be releasing my works (like Hell on $5 A Day) into the public domain 56 years from July 1, 2025 or 56 years after first publication, whichever comes later.

This is one reason I was doing the FunDraw Clipart Drops. I had no plans to ever monetize them and my kids would have likely not seen value in them when I pass, so why not put them in the public domain early and let people both enjoy and use them? I only gave it up because preparing the release posts, packages, and videos was so time consuming and there’s no value in it for me if no one is noticing them.

The copyright extensions of 1976 and 1998 are bogus. No creator needs that much encouragement to create. I certainly don’t. If the pre-1976 copyright lengths were good enough to encourage the creation of Lawrence of Arabia and Led Zeppelin’s “Houses of The Holy”, they’re good enough to encourage me to create.