“Yeah, it would put Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and Twitter out of business as well. I wouldn’t worry too much.”
On the contrary, the 20th Century Berne Convention and changes in U.S. Copyright have been eroding and destroying the very foundation of Human civilization. One of the key attributes which has made Humans so successful and prolific as an adaptive species of lifeform has been its ability to communicate the knowledge and experience gained in a current and previous generations to the successor generations. This ability to faithfully communicate knowledge to current and future generations is an inalienable right Humanity requires to maintain and improve civilization. The inalienable right to free speech is a recognition of the need to protect the communication of knowledge in order to protect and improve civilization. The 1st Amendment to the Constitution guaranteed the right to free speech, yet the Constitution also granted Congress the power to give the creators of original works a form of temporary monopoly in the form of copyrights and patents to encourage their creation. These temporary monopolies infringed upon the 1st Amendment right of free speech to an extent limited by Congress, foreign states, and international agreements by treating the works as intangible assets or intangible properties that can be bought and sold in ways similar to tangible properties. During the 20th Century, however, the proprietary property owners prevailed upon Congress to renege on the original purpose and method of encouraging the creation of the works for a temporary monopoly by in effect making some of these monopolies permanent during any one lifetime or generation of Human civilization for most intents and purposes. The end result is the increasing loss of these original works and/or their inaccessibility to most of the Human civilization who could benefit from such proprietary and free knowledge.
Another problem has been the deliberate creation of a system which requires the securing of copyright permissions without also providing a means by which it can be determined who to contact for the copyright permission, where to contact the copyright owner, or whether or not the copyright has been abandoned by the death of the copyright owners and heirs or the dissolution of the corporate owner. Legal access to a work can be lost due to an inability to gain practical access to the information necessary to contact the parties necessary to negotiate copyright permissions.
These and many other problems are stifling the ability to keep countless works in publication where civilization can benefit from continued access to such works. In the end, the 1st Amendment right to free speech is being gravely impeded by the way in which Congress overreaches the temporary grants of these monopolies and makes them virtual permanent grants of monopolies that defeat the ability to pass the knowledge in such works to future generations and civilizations.
As someone who makes a living off copyrighted materials (photographs) I can assure you that it is generally not that difficult to determine the owner, and their contact information.
You cannot imagine how many times I’ve had to challenge publications and institutions who feel it is their right to lift my work from other legitimate sources and use them without permission or compensation. I was actually driving down the street and saw an image on a freakin’ billboard.
If I hadn’t registered my work with the copyright office my case against these people would have been difficult to prove, I would have lost my income and control of my property. By working within the copyright rules, I am able to flex some strength and get some payments.
So, while your points are valid on some older written works, the new age is digital. I have the right to protect my assets and assure a living off from my work.
If Drudge wants to lift my photos for use on his site, they are not in the public domain. He had better contact me and be prepared to pay for every click.