The origin of copyright law takes us back to 1710 and Queen Anne, the monarch who had just overseen the unification of England and Scotland into the then, brand new, Great Britain.

Also on our busy schedule was the Statute of Anne, the very first copyright law.

It gave authors control over who could make copies of their books or build on their work for a limited period of time.

Later, a group of rebellious colonists thought that the Statute of Anne was a good idea, and so copy pasted it into their own constitution, giving Congress the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors the exclusive right to their respective writings. Basically, copyright is a contract between authors and society. If you promise to make more stuff, we promise not to copy it or build on it for 28 years. Here's an example from the modern day. Let's say you're trying to be a director and you're looking for a project to get started. Harry Potter is a story you'd love to remake, but since J.K.Rolling published The Sorcerer Stone in the United States in 1998, it still has copyright protection so you can't use it. Instead, you need to find something from a long time ago. For example, George Lucas released Star Wars A New Hope in 1977. That's more than 28 years ago, so great, get filming.

Alas, no. While Star Wars should have lost copyright protection in 2005, it's actually copyrighted until

95 years after publication, not 28. So you can't use it unless Lucas lets you.

Why does his copyright last for ages? Well, as long as there has been copyright, there have

been authors arguing that it's too short. And perhaps they're right. How's a poor guy like

Lucas supposed to turn a profit in the mere 28 years between 1977 and 2005? After all, there was only

the theatrical release of the New Hope.

And the theatrical re-release in 1978, and again in 1979, and 1981, and 1982.

And then there was the 1982 VHS and Beta Max releases, the 1984 broadcast television release, the 1985 laser disc release, the 1989

widescreen laser disc release, the 1990 VHS re-release, the 1992 widescreen

VHS release, the 1993 Laser Disc Re-released, the 1995 VHS re-release, the 1997 Special Edition

Theatrical Release, Honshot First, you bastard, the 1997 VHS Special Edition release, and the 2004

DVD release.

And now you, dear filmmaker, come along and want to make your own version of

Star Wars a new hope for shame. That's like stealing food right out of George Lucas's mouth. Four times

Congress has agreed with authors that the length of copyright is too short to turn a profit and has so

extended it. First in 1831 from 28 years to 42 years, then again in 1909 to 56 years, in 1976 to the lifetime of the author plus 50 years, and in 1998 to the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. That's a great deal for authors who have already made stuff, but does it really help society get more books and movies? It's hard to imagine, for example, that Edgar Rice Burroughs started writing A Princess of Mars and Tarzan in 1911 because the copyright laws had just been extended and would not have done so otherwise.

Or that J.K. Rowling, while living on benefits in Scotland, was busy doing the math and wouldn't have written Harry Potter if the copyright protection was just for her whole life, and not an additional seven decades thereafter.

Because exactly who needs incentives after they're dead?

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