Free Mickey?

Go watch Lawrence Lessig’s presentation from OSCON 2002, it’s really good:

http://randomfoo.net/oscon/2002/lessig/free.html

For a reprise, check out Lessig’s related article in the NY Times:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E0DB1630F93BA25752C0A9659C8B63

Although, the latter begs a question…

If 2% of copyrighted work between 1923 and 1942 continues being commercially exploited (yes, that’s Mickey) and extended copyrights block access to all the other “dead” stuff that nobody seems interested in, why not think about ways to alter copyright law such that Mickey can stay chained up but the “dead” stuff becomes freely available?

Not really what us poor consumers are after (we only want those 2%…) but certainly better than the ongoing farce Lessig is talking about?