Senate passes copyright bill to end 140-year protection for old songs

Re:Senate passes copyright bill to end 140-year protection f... by int_19h on Thursday September 20, 2018 @12:00AM (#18029674)

That's fine, but we should then tax it same as all other property that is a significant investment - have the tax assessor evaluate the market value, and tax based on that.

Then we'll see how much Mickey Mouse copyrights etc are really worth to Disney.

Oh, and capping it on the bottom end - even symbolically, to something like a dollar a year, just so that there's the hassle of having to pay it - would also solve the abandonware problem.

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Re:Senate passes copyright bill to end 140-year protection f... by onetimemanytime on Thursday September 20, 2018 @01:15AM (#18029950)

Don't know about Mickey or how corps are taxed on their assets but I assume they are taxed on what they gain from their assets. So if Disney makes $2 Billion a year from Mickey they are taxed on that.

Also, when Eminem dies, IRS will value his estate (mainly image rights, songs and copyrights) and send a bill for close to half of the value.

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Re:Senate passes copyright bill to end 140-year protection f... by int_19h on Thursday September 20, 2018 @04:14AM (#18030593)

A person who owns a house and rents it out is taxed both on rental income, and on the value of the house itself.

They say that copyrights are "intellectual property". Let's treat them as such in other respects, not just when it comes to protecting property rights.

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