Forever Minus a Day? Theory and Empirics of Optimal Copyright Term

Abstract

The optimal term of copyright has been a matter for extensive debate over the last decade. Using a simple model we characterise optimal term as a function of a few key parameters. We estimate this function using a combination of new and existing data on recordings and books and find an optimal term of around fifteen years. This is substantially shorter than any current copyright term and implies that existing copyright terms are too long.Copyright; Intellectual Property; Copyright Term