Rich Apodaca created an instructive approach to blogging information by deliberately cutting annotations off graphs to make the reader think about them (e.e. http://depth-first.com/articles/2010/10/26/name-that-graph/).

So, what’s the following graph, and why does it matter? When I get an answer I’ll reveal its source, and what it means. I shouldn’t have to explain its importance:

UPDATE: Now we have had suggestions, I’ll reveal. Thanks Tom and Alex for suggestions. Here is it. The inexorable march of Mickey Mouse.

The vertical axis is the number of years for copyright duration in the US. So something created now will remain in copyright until well after the end of this century. In the age of the Internet Enlightenment that is barbarism. I have temporarily lost the attribution, sorry].

Here’s TechDirt: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121116/16481921080/house-republicans-copyright-law-destroys-markets-its-time-real-reform.shtml This is good stuff from the **Republicans**. They have realised that actually copyright is anti-free-market.

House Republicans: Copyright Law Destroys Markets; It’s Time For Real Reform    

from the congress-wakes-up dept

Update: Wow. It took less than 24 hours for the RSC to fold to Hollywood pressure. They have now retracted the report and attempted to claim that it was not properly vetted.

Right after the Presidential election last week, Chris Sprigman and Kal Raustiala penned an opinion piece suggesting that one way the Republicans could “reset”, and actually attract the youth vote, would be to become the party of copyright reform. We had actually wondered if that was going to happen back during the SOPA fight, when it was the Republicans who bailed on the bill, while most of those who kept supporting it were Democrats. Since then, however, there hadn’t been much movement. Until now. Late on Friday, the Republican Study Committee, which is the caucus for the House Republicans, released an amazing document debunking various myths about copyright law and suggesting key reforms.

If you’re used to Congress not understanding copyright, prepare to be surprised. It’s clear, thorough and detailed about just how problematic copyright has become and why it needs to change. To give you a sense of where the document heads, note the final line:

Current copyright law does not merely distort some markets — rather it destroys entire markets.

Yes.

In Science, STM publishers are destroying current and future markets. And, unlike Disney, they didn’t even write or draw the stuff they stop us using.