🚀 go-pugleaf

Got an interesting item in the mail today...the little pamphlet that
my congressman (Kastenmeier, D-WI) sends out to his constituency to
give us some info on what's going on (well, really to keep his name
visible so he'll get re-elected, but...).

  One of the items mentioned was a possible change in U.S. copyright
law, to cover "industrial design" items.  Basically, this would make
it illegal to duplicate a piece of an object sold in the U.S. and sell
the duplicate, if a copyright was held on that item.  The example he
uses is a car body part; right now, if you have an accident, you can
buy either the manufacturer's replacement part, or a number of
third-party ones which are designed to fulfill the same purpose (i.e.
fit in the same place, look the same).  Under the proposed changes,
this would become illegal.

  It seems to me that this is closely related to the issue of software
"look-and-feel," and that if these changes to the copyright law are
made, it will set a bad precedent.  ("This software provides the same
function as 1-2-3, and has the same interface.  Why should it not be
granted the same protections Ford Motor Company has on the front
bumper of their 1995 Larynx?" :-)

  Apparently, Europe and Japan are pressuring the United States on the
issue, but Kastenmeier's brochure didn't go into any detail at all.
He's opposed to the legislation, and said that in 1976 he explicitly
kept this protection out of the revised copyright law (I have no idea
what his connection was with it--in 1976, I wasn't old enough to be
worrying about copyright :-).

  Does anyone out there know more about this issue?  Perhaps GNU or
the LPF could join forces with some of the groups (e.g. consumer
advocates) who are opposing the industrial design copyright?

  Just a few thoughts....

	Anton "I am not a number, I am a free programmer!"
   
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| Anton Rang (grad student) | rang@cs.wisc.edu | UW--Madison |
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