All,
I have compiled a few of my favorite basic links to open licensing law below.
The Constitution obviously provides the initial, undergirding language for open licensing discussions (see below). Although the Constitution does not specify the length of the "life" of a copyright, its length in the USA expanded from its original 14 years to (more recently) life + 50 years, to its current life +70 years. The twenty-year expansion drew my attention, and I have included links to the extension act's text and the related Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the expansion was constitutional.
The reasoning behind the Court's language presages future similar extensions. Enjoy!!
Copyright Clause: Article I, Section 8, Clause 8:http://www.house.gov/house/Constitution/Constitution.html
Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act: http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/s505.pdf·
Eldred v. Ashcroft: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12147684852241107557&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr
