[B5JMS] attn. JMS: On Length of Copyright

[b5jms at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: "SB" <seanbronzell at mindspring.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 00:53:11 +0000 (UTC)
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"Jms at B5" <jmsatb5 at aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030704182659.08895.00000100 at mb-m20.aol.com...
> One sidelight to this thing...most writers working at a certain level
these
> days incorporate, and all their works are owned/copyrighted by the
corporation,
> not the individual.  So all Harlan's works are (c) the Kiliminjaro
Corporation,
> and mine are (c) Synthetic Worlds, Ltd.  Which means that the works are
> copyrighted for *the life of the corporation*, not my life.


Question -- what are the benefits of setting up your copyright with a
corporation?  I can sort of sketch out why, but from a theoretical point of
view, not from having done it.    Can you spell out why you and others do it
this way?

Thanks,

Sean Bronzell





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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 09:09:05 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 29

>Question -- what are the benefits of setting up your copyright with a
>corporation?  I can sort of sketch out why, but from a theoretical point of
>view, not from having done it.    Can you spell out why you and others do it
>this way?

I already answered part of this in the message you cite, where I noted:

>So all Harlan's works are (c) the Kiliminjaro
>Corporation,
>> and mine are (c) Synthetic Worlds, Ltd.  Which means that the works are
>> copyrighted for *the life of the corporation*, not my life.

So if the corporation survives for 170 years, that is the life of the owner of
the copyright, and it belongs to SWL for 170 years.  Now, the odds of that
actually *happening* are about zero, but that's the theory.  They can also be
assigned as a corporate value and transferred.  It also separates out who owns
what in case of lawsuit.  If you are sued as an individual, the properties
owned by the corporation are generally protected.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)