-can't extend an existing term. If Congress could extend an
- existing
-term, then there would be no "stopping point" to Congress's power
-over terms, though the Constitution expressly states that there is such
-a limit. Thus, the same principle applied to the power to grant
- copyrights
-should entail that Congress is not allowed to extend the term of
-existing copyrights.
-</para>
-<para>
-If, that is, the principle announced in Lopez stood for a principle.
-Many believed the decision in Lopez stood for politics—a conservative
-Supreme Court, which believed in states' rights, using its power over
-Congress to advance its own personal political preferences. But I
- rejected
-that view of the Supreme Court's decision. Indeed, shortly after
-the decision, I wrote an article demonstrating the "fidelity" in such an
-interpretation of the Constitution. The idea that the Supreme Court
-decides cases based upon its politics struck me as extraordinarily
- boring.
-I was not going to devote my life to teaching constitutional law if
-these nine Justices were going to be petty politicians.
-</para>
-<para>
-Now let's pause for a moment to make sure we understand what
-the argument in Eldred was not about. By insisting on the
- Constitution's
-limits to copyright, obviously Eldred was not endorsing piracy.
-Indeed, in an obvious sense, he was fighting a kind of piracy—piracy of
-the public domain. When Robert Frost wrote his work and when Walt
-Disney created Mickey Mouse, the maximum copyright term was just
-fifty-six years. Because of interim changes, Frost and Disney had
- already
-enjoyed a seventy-five-year monopoly for their work. They had
-gotten the benefit of the bargain that the Constitution envisions: In
-exchange for a monopoly protected for fifty-six years, they created new
-work. But now these entities were using their power—expressed
-through the power of lobbyists' money—to get another twenty-year
-dollop of monopoly. That twenty-year dollop would be taken from the
-public domain. Eric Eldred was fighting a piracy that affects us all.
+can't extend an existing term. If Congress could extend an existing
+term, then there would be no "stopping point" to Congress's power over
+terms, though the Constitution expressly states that there is such a
+limit. Thus, the same principle applied to the power to grant
+copyrights should entail that Congress is not allowed to extend the
+term of existing copyrights.
+</para>
+<para>
+<emphasis>If</emphasis>, that is, the principle announced in <citetitle>Lopez</citetitle>
+stood for a principle. Many believed the decision in <citetitle>Lopez</citetitle> stood for
+politics—a conservative Supreme Court, which believed in states'
+rights, using its power over Congress to advance its own personal
+political preferences. But I rejected that view of the Supreme Court's
+decision. Indeed, shortly after the decision, I wrote an article
+demonstrating the "fidelity" in such an interpretation of the
+Constitution. The idea that the Supreme Court decides cases based upon
+its politics struck me as extraordinarily boring. I was not going to
+devote my life to teaching constitutional law if these nine Justices
+were going to be petty politicians.
+</para>
+<para>
+Now let's pause for a moment to make sure we understand what the
+argument in <citetitle>Eldred</citetitle> was not about. By insisting on the
+Constitution's limits to copyright, obviously Eldred was not endorsing
+piracy. Indeed, in an obvious sense, he was fighting a kind of
+piracy—piracy of the public domain. When Robert Frost wrote his
+work and when Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse, the maximum copyright
+term was just fifty-six years. Because of interim changes, Frost and
+Disney had already enjoyed a seventy-five-year monopoly for their
+work. They had gotten the benefit of the bargain that the Constitution
+envisions: In exchange for a monopoly protected for fifty-six years,
+they created new work. But now these entities were using their
+power—expressed through the power of lobbyists' money—to
+get another twenty-year dollop of monopoly. That twenty-year dollop
+would be taken from the public domain. Eric Eldred was fighting a
+piracy that affects us all.
projects / text-free-culture-lessig.git / commitdiff