By the time Apple's Macintosh operating system finally falls into the public domain, there will be no machine that could possibly run it. The term of copyright for software is effectively unlimited.

Quote by Lawrence Lessig

Topics: Lawrence Lessig Quotes

A free culture has been our past, but it will only be our future if...

A free culture has been our past, but it will only be our future if...

This does not mean that every copyright must prove its value initially. That would be...

This does not mean that every copyright must prove its value initially. That would be...

So uncritically do we accept the idea of property in culture that we don't even...

So uncritically do we accept the idea of property in culture that we don't even...

A culture without property, or in which creators can't get paid, is anarchy, not freedom.

A culture without property, or in which creators can't get paid, is anarchy, not freedom.

If the only way a library can offer an Internet exhibit about the New Deal...

If the only way a library can offer an Internet exhibit about the New Deal...

If the Internet teaches us anything, it is that great value comes from leaving core...

If the Internet teaches us anything, it is that great value comes from leaving core...

The danger in media concentration comes not from the concentration, but instead from the feudalism...

The danger in media concentration comes not from the concentration, but instead from the feudalism...

As we've seen, our constitutional system requires limits on copyright as a way to assure...

As we've seen, our constitutional system requires limits on copyright as a way to assure...

Power runs with ideas that only the crazy would draw into doubt.

Power runs with ideas that only the crazy would draw into doubt.

In these times, the hardest task for social or political activists is to find a...

In these times, the hardest task for social or political activists is to find a...

A time is marked not so much by ideas that are argued about as by...

A time is marked not so much by ideas that are argued about as by...

Believing we know what makes prosperity work, ignoring the nature of the actual prosperity all...

Believing we know what makes prosperity work, ignoring the nature of the actual prosperity all...

Remember the refrain: We always build on the past; the past always tries to stop...

Remember the refrain: We always build on the past; the past always tries to stop...

All around us are the consequences of the most significant technological, and hence cultural, revolution...

All around us are the consequences of the most significant technological, and hence cultural, revolution...

Americans have been selling this view around the world: that progress comes from perfect protection...

Americans have been selling this view around the world: that progress comes from perfect protection...

While the creative works from the 16th century can still be accessed and used by...

While the creative works from the 16th century can still be accessed and used by...

Before the monopoly should be permitted, there must be reason to believe it will do...

Before the monopoly should be permitted, there must be reason to believe it will do...

Of all the creative work produced by humans anywhere, a tiny fraction has continuing commercial...

$Of all the creative work produced by humans anywhere, a tiny fraction has continuing commercial...$

When government disappears, it's not as if paradise will take its place. When governments are...

When government disappears, it's not as if paradise will take its place. When governments are...

Now that copyrights can be just about a century long, the inability to know what...

Now that copyrights can be just about a century long, the inability to know what...