Restoring constitutional copyright.

• Position: List - Brief article

The Constitution offers explicit instructions on the purpose of copyrights and patents: to promote the "progress" of the "sciences and the useful arts." Of the 18 enumerated powers granted to Congress, this is the only power with a specific purpose. In November reason asked Yale Law Fellow Derek Khanna, who writes frequently about intellectual property, for three reforms that could help restore constitutional copyright law:

1 Shorten copyright terms. The Constitution says copyright must be for "Limited Times." For the founders, it was 14 years. Today, copyright is life of the author plus 70 years. But since copyrights have been extended every 20 years, it is effectively infinite copyright, which is unconstitutional.

2 Reform or remove statutory damages. Because modern copyright applies to every text and email you send, it's likely every person has violated...