Article 1 - The Legislative Branch
Section 8 - Powers of Congress
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;
The above is only one paragraph of Article 1, Section 8, the paragraph that is relevent to this post.
"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts," - it seems to me that the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and some other copyright laws, are actually in place so the corporations that have the copyrights can profit from them in perpetuity, and are restrictive to the progress of science and useful arts, i.e. unconstitutional.
"by securing for limited Times" - copyright in the U.S.A. was originally fourteen years. Now it is variable - life of author, creator, inventor +70 years - 95 years from publication or 120 from creation, whichever is shorter - renewable.
Yes, these are limited times, except for the renewable part. Doesn't that make it potentially forever?
"to Authors and Inventors" - When did publishing companies become authors? Or corporations become inventors? Sure, the corporations money and supplies are used to facilitate inventions and publishing companies use their money to publish works by authors, but this does not give them rights to them. They spent money on behalf of the authors and inventors and should make a "reasonable" profit for doing so, but not the rights (which are supposed to be 'exclusive'), nor the lion's share of the profits, to the works and inventions.
"for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;" - How can a copyright, or patent, be for the life of the author, or inventors, plus 70 years? The constitution specifies exclusive right to authors and inventors, how can the authors and inventors have exclusive rights to anything after they are dead?
It appears to me that what has happened, and still is happening is:
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and/or other greedy, obsolete organizations are trying to stop progress and turn back the clock by
spending a lot of money on lobbying, bribery or blackmail in order to get these unconstitutional laws passed instead of using that money to find new ways of doing business that reflect the realities of the modern world.
And/or our lawmakers have kowtowed to international organizations and other countries and passed these laws in violation of our constitution.
Or:
Our esteemed lawmakers can't read, interpret or understand one simple sentence in the U.S. Constitution.
The reality is probably all of these in varying degrees.
I remember (surprise) being taught in school that if the rulers of the U.S. want to do something not expressly allowed in the Constitution they had to make an amendment to the Constitution allowing it, not just pass laws that violate what is written there or pass laws not expressly allowed.
Oh, wait, that is actually written in that same Constitution. Another Constitutional violation.
We are losing our Constitutionally granted rights faster and faster because money speaks louder than the people.
