There really are copyright issues to discuss, but not as part of the kind of ideological romance that has grown up in the current debates. A problem is posed by technological innovations that allow easy copying and transmission; there are dangers to the incentives copyright establishes. So new forms of control develop and those controls, in turn, pose dangers. But this is not the war that Mr. Lessig and his colleagues have in mind.
As it turns out, the extension of 20 years means that copyright law has held off for a while what will be a large-scale entrance of television and movies into the public domain. In the meantime, the absence of a public domain has not hampered creativity in either medium. And it will give Mickey and Minnie and Goofy plenty of time to prepare for becoming public figures.
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