Fettered Access
A federal suit challenges current copyright law.
As the sponsors of the world-famous Prelinger Archives (accessible for free at the Internet Archive, www.archive.org), Rick and Megan Prelinger have spent years amassing volumes of seemingly valueless print media and film because they believe that history can be found in unlikely places-like in the back issues of Schism magazine. An obscure periodical dating back to the 1960s, Schism reprinted articles from equally obscure publications espousing divergent political views."Given the political mood this year, it would have been interesting to put this online and see how it resonates," says Megan Prelinger. But because of copyright concerns, the magazine remains on the shelf-along with a thousand deteriorating films. "The copyright lasts longer than the film itself," Megan Prelinger observes.
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Judge Maxine M. Chesney is expected to return a ruling as early as this month.
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