As Lane Becker wrote on Meg’s weblog, Valenti and his cronies are fighting “a terrorist war on the most important industry in America” (can’t find a cite, except for blogs of Larry’s speech…). We need to work on slogans and imagery to fight the war of unthinkably increased copyright protection.
They’re worried that the artists won’t get paid, we’re worried that the art will won’t get made.
It’s sure to be a long and hard battle, but I want to see copyright regulation shrunken back down to where it came from. A short (15-30 year) copyright. No laws against copying or modifying for non-commercial use. Protection only for items with clear copyright notices and registration with the Library of Congress.
These freedoms likely won’t be retroactive, and they certainly won’t be easy, but we must try to achieve them. If corporations can buy lawyers, we the people must by them back. And Larry Lessig deserves his own TV show.