Quote:And no, "lifetime" is not too long.
perhaps i'm not being clear. My problem with lifetime is that it is too variable. it can last a minute or a century, considering that most creators sell their copyright to make money now, rather than wait for years, or to get funds to make the work in question in the first place. This variability means risk, and risk will drive down the price of what the creator will get. Also it will have wierd effects like sick artists being able to get less money for their works, and multi-author works being worth more because the risk is less. This is not desirable for anyone.
Quote:Yeah, if the copyright were fifteen years I would not bother being a writer.
Perhaps, but weather they will still get money 15 years from now is beyond most people's horizon, there will undoubtedly be some that instead of writing will choose to do something else instead, but equally some who wrote some things earlier will feel compelled to keep writing instead of resting on their laurels to keep earning money.
Like most of public policy it's a balancing act, but there isn't much agreement on how long the duration should be. However i am a big supporter of science and the studies i have seen all agree that it's less than 15 years. some say as low as 2, others 5 or 6 and yet others say 15 years. now some of this disagreement is because the studies tried to maximize slightly different things, and some is due to a difference in models and not enough empirical data.
As for software you would be surprised at how much old software is still in use. My dad forinstance goes to great pains to keep his 10 year old word processor and CAD program around because he doesn't feel like learning how to use the newer versions, which don't add any feature he needs or wants. As the software industry matures this will probably become more common. keep in mind 20 years ago computers where still rare, 10 years ago Windows 98 was less than a year old. 5 years ago WinXP was the dominant OS and that hasn't changed yet.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."