While the creative works from the 16th century can still be accessed and used by others, the data in some software programs from the 1990s is already inaccessible.

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...

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...

By the time Apple's Macintosh operating system finally falls into the public domain, there will...

By the time Apple's Macintosh operating system finally falls into the public domain, there will...

Notwithstanding the fact that the most innovative and progressive space we've seen - the Internet...

Notwithstanding the fact that the most innovative and progressive space we've seen - the Internet...

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

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

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...

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...

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...

Monopoly controls have been the exception in free societies; they have been the rule in...

Monopoly controls have been the exception in free societies; they have been the rule in...

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.

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...

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...

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...

We have a massive system to regulate creativity. A massive system of lawyers regulating creativity...

We have a massive system to regulate creativity. A massive system of lawyers regulating creativity...

The real harm of term extension comes not from these famous works. The real harm...

The real harm of term extension comes not from these famous works. The real harm...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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