Steve is right to remind us that not all participants on SCREEN-L are from
the States.  Along the way, he raises an interesting question by implication:
Do the copyright laws and practices differ drastically in various countries?
 
As I understand it, the most recent (1979?) revision of the United States
copyright statute was an attempt to make the laws conform to those in other
countries that were signatory to the Berne Convention.  I'm sure that the
1912 and earlier versions of the U.S. copyright law were vastly different
from those in other countries.  One example: the two terms of 28 years each in
contrast to the more common expiration pegged to the lifetime of the author.
 
The U.S. law is now pegged to the lifetime of the author.  A current
copyright expires fifty years after the death of the author.  Or a full term of
seventy-five years in the case of a corporate copyright holder since
corporations don't die natural deaths.
 
Cal Pryluck                               <PRYLUCK@TEMPLEVM>
Dept of Radio-Television-Film             <[log in to unmask]>
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122