Once upon a time, it was the activist left that wanted to rip private property from private entities, and it was conservatives who sought to prevent such attacks on free enterprise. But that was when conservatives still believed in their own stated principles. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has once again demonstrated how much he doesn’t. His legislation attempting to retroactively strip Disney of its own copyrights as punishment for criticizing Florida’s so-called “don’t say gay” law is not only legally and constitutionally ridiculous but should be philosophically repugnant to a party that once prided itself on standing against interference with free enterprise.
Hawley’s legislation would alter current U.S. patent law so that copyrights for intellectual material would last just 56 years from the time of their creation. Under current U.S. law, those patents are good for the lifetime of the creator of the property, plus 70 years after that person’s death. Not only would Hawley’s legislation dramatically reduce that standard, it would generally violate an international agreement, to which the U.S. is a signatory, that protects copyrights for the life of the creator plus 50 years.
As usual, Hawley presents his legislation as if it were something principled — in this case, the principle of returning U.S. copyright law to where it was until the late 20th century — in order to spur “innovation” by ending the mini-monopolies that long-term copyrights create.
