in fact it’s whole purpose is to be of limited time.
I love how you put this. The most recent extension of the term of copyright was the 1998 “Sonny Bono” Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) which delayed (not for the first time) Mickey’s entry into the public domain by 20 years. When the constitutionality of the CTEA was challenged in the courts (Eldred v. Ashcroft) it went all the way to the supreme court, which ultimately found, unfortunately, no merit in the challenge and allowed the CTEA to stand.
The Clause exists not to “provide a special private benefit,” but “to stimulate artistic creativity for the general public good.” It does so by “motivat[ing] the creative activity of authors” through “the provision of a special reward.” … The “reward” is a means, not an end. And that is why the copyright term is limited. It is limited so that its beneficiaries - the public - “will not be permanently deprived of the fruits of an artist’s labors.”
I love how you put this. The most recent extension of the term of copyright was the 1998 “Sonny Bono” Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) which delayed (not for the first time) Mickey’s entry into the public domain by 20 years. When the constitutionality of the CTEA was challenged in the courts (Eldred v. Ashcroft) it went all the way to the supreme court, which ultimately found, unfortunately, no merit in the challenge and allowed the CTEA to stand.
But two of the justices dissented to the majority opinion. And Justice Breyer wrote this in his dissenting opinion about the clause in the Constitution justifying the whole institution of Copyright in the U.S.: