Reborn America, this is my time

Chapter 13 Exploiting Loopholes in the Law
After deciding to join the video game industry, Ethan had gone to the library in the city to look up information in the two months since time travel, so he understood what Lawyer Barbara meant by 56 years.

The 1909 Copyright Protection Act of America stipulates that the copyright protection law protects the copyright owner for 28 years from the date of creation, and the expiration can be extended once, which is 56 years.

In other words, no matter how popular a work is, its author can only enjoy the benefits within 56 years from the date of birth of the work. After the 56-year period is exceeded, the work will become a public work. can be used indiscriminately.

This fact is actually very cruel.

Because it may happen that the author is not dead, but others have already started playing disco with his work.

Ethan was very confused about such a law.

Because in his memory, the provisions of the copyright protection law should be 70 years after the author's death?
At that time, he only thought that the copyright protection law in America was changed at some point, but now...

That time seems to be right around the corner?

"Mr. Barbara, do you mean that the Copyright Protection Act of 1909 will be amended in the near future?" Evelyn was not a fool, and directly asked the same question as Ethan thought.

"Yeah~ The copyright protection law will be changed soon! You heard me right, I said immediately!"

Lady Barbara leaned back and rested her hands on the arm of the sofa.

The soft feeling made her eyes narrow instinctively, and even her voice had a hint of pleasure.

"My dears! According to what I've learned, a company that relies on copyrights for a living is about to fail."

"Because if the current copyright protection law is followed, the cash cow in their hands will become public copyright in a few years. Therefore, as early as a few years ago, they have sent lobbying companies to contact people from the two parties. , they urgently need to promote the revision of the copyright protection law, and for this, they can pay a lot of money."

"For this matter, I, my peers, and my teachers all feel that this company will succeed, because this company has unusual significance to America..."

Hearing this, Ethan laughed out loud.

"Mr. Barbara, is it Disney, right? Mickey?" He asked bluntly.

"Huh? It's Walt Disney!" Ethan's words made Barbara laugh too.

The two slender eyebrows flew up, and the whole person seemed extremely happy, "Their Mickey will expire in [-]! So you just need to wait a while, and then you can perfectly enjoy the new version of the law." It’s convenient to come!”

"why?"

Evelyn couldn't understand, and said: "Mr. Barbara, if we register the copyright now, we should be able to enjoy the new legal protection after the new version of the law is implemented, right?"

"No, it's not like that."

Before Barbara could answer, Ethan, who had the memory of his previous life, had already said: "Evelyn, I understand what Teacher Barbara means, capitalists are greedy, and no one knows what kind of method they will use. Lobbying, and no one knows if they're going to hurt others while protecting themselves."

"For example, is the current Mickey copyright under the name of a natural person or a copyright under the name of a legal person? Regarding this kind of issue, when Disney asks people to lobby, it can add a difference between a natural person and a legal person to the copyright term! How much is the natural person? Years, how many years is the legal person."

"Mr. Barbara's meaning is very simple. If we register the copyright now, we are using the green Franklin to gamble with the capitalists, because we can wait for the new law to come out, and then proceed with the law that suits us best. For registration, if the legal provisions for natural persons are better, then we can apply in the name of natural persons, otherwise, we can establish a company."

That's right!Ethan suddenly remembered!In the previous life, I don’t know which version of the American Copyright Protection Act, there are different degrees of discrimination on the nature of the copyright owner!
He doesn't know the specific laws anymore, after all he doesn't practice law, but the name Disney can prove everything!
Walt Disney died in 1966. According to the legal agreement of 70 years after the author’s death, Mickey’s expiration date should be 2036. But before Ethan traveled, he had heard that Mickey’s copyright was It's about to expire, and Disney is lobbying Congress to amend the copyright protection law. Since there is a time difference, there must be a problem!

If Barbara's lawyer hadn't reminded him, he probably wouldn't have noticed this, so it didn't matter.

But since Barbara said...

Then in the land of Millikin, if the issue of copyright protection does not follow the copyright madman, wouldn't it be silly?

Having said that, Ethan stopped.

He and the girl looked at each other, and he could see surprise in the girl's eyes.

So he said with a smile: "Evelyn, in this country, if you don't pay attention to maximizing profits, you will never be able to participate in commercial games."

"Who wants to start a business?" Evelyn, who wanted to understand, muttered unconvinced.

"You have to understand it even if you don't do business, because the same goes for other things."

Ethan said with a smile: "In America, when we do anything, the first thing we do is to try our best to protect our own interests."

"Even if you want to change the world, you must first be strong yourself."

"Okay! Okay! I was naive just now, okay?" Evelyn didn't want to argue, and took the initiative to admit defeat.

Ms. Barbara, who had witnessed all of this, clasped her arms and showed appreciation, "Isn't Ethan Jones? Are you interested in law? If you are, you can come to Stanford this year."

She waved her hand and said, "Although the fall application for Stanford this year ended in March, it's only for ordinary people. You can choose any major to study for four years, and after four years, you can go directly to the law school to study law." ..."

"Honestly! I think your idea is great! Many guys always think that they can save the world by passing the bar exam! But they don't know that everything can be changed only by improving themselves first!"

"Anyway, I think that if you become a lawyer, your future will be bright."

The sudden olive branch made Evelyn's eyes widen subconsciously.

Girls know this is an opportunity.

Ethan politely declined the invitation.

"Oh, Mrs. Barbara, thank you very much for your recognition. If there is a need, I will definitely come to you."

"Now, I just want to know how to protect myself legally without registering copyright."

"I believe that since you told us not to register the copyright and also said the disadvantages of the damn express service, there must be other ways to bypass all of this."

"Is it right?"

Ethan smiled.

A gentleman in words and deeds.

"You really have talent, what a pity."

Barbara didn't regret it either, and nodded with a smile, "Since you have heard what I mean, I'll just say it, the current law does have loopholes, because things like electronic arcade machines can completely be ignored. Register copyright..."

Under the guidance of Ms. Barbara, Ethan quickly understood how to use the law to protect himself while taking advantage of legal loopholes.

That is to register a patent for the arcade game "Snake".

On the surface, "Snake" doesn't have any patents at all, and the content of it is all pieced together using existing technologies. If it is formally reviewed, there is a high probability that it will be rejected by the patent office.

However, there are actually two types of patent application channels in America, one is formal application and the other is provisional application.

The former, a formal application, needs to submit a series of materials, such as formal claims, affidavit or statement, IDS (Information Disclosure Statement), and the inventor needs to be designated, and the patent content cannot be modified after the application is submitted, but the latter, a provisional application , you don’t need to provide anything, you just need to go to the patent office to report and file, and the validity period is one year.

Although the provisional application will not issue a patent certificate, it is not important, because what Ethan wants is to protect himself with the law before the introduction of the new copyright protection law. "Eating Snake" game will be punished by law!

The difference between the provisional application of the Patent Office and the expedited service of the Copyright Office is that the expedited service of the Copyright Office can only be applied after the infringement event occurs, and in the process of confirming the copyright, the injured party has no evidence at all. Sue someone.

But the provisional application of the patent office is different. Once an infringement incident occurs, the lawyer can use this thing to take the plagiarist to court!Even if in the end, the court believes that this is not a patent infringement, but a copyright infringement, it does not matter, because they have saved the waiting stage of claiming!

When the court begins to accept infringement cases, they, as plaintiffs, can bring it to the court to make the defendant stop the infringement!
If Mirowa had done this at that time, then Atari would definitely not be able to develop!

When the court has already ordered the defendant to stop selling game consoles, Nolan Bushnell is still making a lot of money!
Ethan admired this kind of thinking very much.

Safeguard your own interests with the legal terms of the bottom line?
This Nima is really a mage!

But at the same time, Ethan had a new problem.

He looked at Barbara suspiciously and said, "Mr. Barbara, if you say so, things are wrong again, because I remember that Mi Luohua registered a patent for his home game console Odyssey, why did they Can't you sue like this?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Ethan felt something was wrong.

After thinking for two seconds, he yelled again: "Oh! Fxxk!!! Nolan Bushnell makes arcade machines!!!"

"Yeah~~~"

Ethan's reaction made Ms. Barbara applaud, and said happily: "Mirov's patent is a home game console, and Atari is an electronic arcade machine. The two products are different. How do you let Mirov use it? What about the patent rights of home game consoles to sue electronic arcades?"

"But the situation you are facing is different now. In the market, the general merchants believe that home game consoles are a money-losing product, so if others want to copy you, they can only copy them on electronic arcade machines. At that time, once you find out If someone infringes, you can directly sue them.”

This kind of magical pairing really opened Ethan's eyes!

Although he knew before that there is no easy way to make a lot of money, but now...

He felt that this kind of thing could no longer be described in simple words!
The 10-minute conversation also benefited him a lot. When the time was almost up, Ethan was also very enthusiastic when he said goodbye to Barbara.

After thanking him repeatedly, he stood at the door of the office and watched the other party leave.

Looking at the figure trotting all the way, catching up with the class, Ethan had a question, "Does Teacher Barbara have defense business?"

"Of course." Standing beside him, Evelyn nodded with a smile.

"How are you charged?"

"I asked this question before. Before she came to the school, the hourly consultation fee was [-] dollars. After she came to the school, because she had to attend classes, she only answered questions from teachers, students and friends."

This charging standard made Ethan feel a little bit emotional, "This is the real benefit of going to university, right?"

"So you regret it?" Evelyn still wanted to try harder, "It's still too late for you to regret it, just catch up now."

"Regret? Are you kidding me?"

Ethan gave Evelyn a sideways glance, and said, "I, Ethan Jones, have a firm mind! I have never been the kind of person who regrets!"

"Even if I can't meet Teacher Barbara today, I can find someone else!"

"You know, whoever the earth is away from, it will still rotate!"

"Really?" Ethan's stubborn words brought a playful smile to Evelyn's face. "Does this mean that you won't ask me for help in the future?"

Speaking of this, she stretched directly, "Oh, this is really a good thing! Finally, no one will bother me anymore!"

"?" Ethan was dumbfounded.

"!" She stared blankly at Evelyn.

"My sister was wrong!" He knelt faster than a Gallic chicken.

　Thank you [book friend 20190611195126616] for the reward of 100 starting coins, and thank you for your voting support.

　　Note: ① To study law in the United States, you need to graduate from a bachelor's degree to apply. ②The provisional patent application written in the article is only for obtaining legal protection. It is widely used in the United States, because many people find this thing easy to use. One year of provisional application allows countless entrepreneurs to test their products in the market. Whether there is any potential, if there is, formally apply for financing, if not, give up.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)