Kevin Kelly had a very nice New York Times Op-Ed piece entitled Making My Own Music, which clearly elucidates the way that I’ve come to think about copyright issues and the value of the public domain.

One small quote:

Given the benefits of digitized films, there is little question that film buffs, powered only by passion, would rush to convert the 500 to 1,000 films that fall out of copyright each year — if the copyright period is not extended.

This is an old article, written before the decision in Eldred v. Ashcroft, and unfortunately for the country (although perhaps good for the Mouse), the arbitrary and excessive extension of automatic copyright protection was held to be consitutional.