"100 years, stifled" is an experimental generative art piece that attempts to highlight overly long copyright terms. As of this writing, in most parts of the world, copyright terms are effectively over hundred years.

Copyright gives protection to the artist by offering state backed enforcement of unauthorized use. In exchange for this temporary protection, works enter the public domain after the copyright term.

Works created today will most likely not be available for unrestricted public use until well over a century from now. Art that we grew up with, and assume is part of our cultural identity, will not be available to use until we are most likely long dead.

The conversation around copyright often centers around pleas to morality and artistic control. Rarely is the focus on the outsized benefits large corporations reap from lengthy copyright terms, how much our culture fades without the ability to copy and extend it
or how we support century long monopolies through taxation.

The extended copyright terms have a chilling effect on older works. Corporate entities are disincentivized from releasing older works under their control because potential markets might not meet a threshold of profitability. Many individuals would rather their work languish and be forgotten rather than release it to the public domain and allow someone else to profit from it.

We live, now, in an era where mass artistic replication, interpretation and creation is possible. Often the response is to be even more draconian about copyright restrictions and terms.

What is a pragmatic copyright length? How do we incentivize and reward artists for their creative work? How do we uphold our ideals of rewarding innovation while enriching the commons?

"100 years, stifled" aims to provoke more thoughtful discussion around copyright terms, around intellectual property in general
and the realities of our modern physical and digital ecosystem.

To the extent possible, the source code for "100 years, stifled" is dedicated to the public domain (CC0) and can be used for any purpose, even commercial, by anyone. Third party libraries are used that are not CC0 licensed but have libre/free licensing terms
that allow for commercial reuse (please see the LICENSE section for more details).