Book People Archive

Copyright extension

• From: Daniel St-Jean <dstjean@[redacted]>
• Subject: Copyright extension
• Date: Sat, 14 Jul 01 10:11:35 -0400

Hi book lovers,

A question or two from the lurkiest lurker:

     - What date did the Europeans vote the copyright a 20 years
extension?
     - Who pushed that idea?

   -- Dan

[Moderator: The European Council Directive to "harmonize" 
 copyright terms, which included the life+70 years provision, is
 dated 29 October 1993.
 (See http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/1993/en_393L0098.html
 for a copy).   The dates at which this term actually went into
 effect in a particular country vary, and there are still a few cases
 where I haven't yet seen the new terms fully enacted into a EU member's
 national laws. 
  I'll leave the second question, and who/why/how in general, for Europeans,
 or other folks who know more than I about EU politics, to answer. - JMO]