Eugene Volokh's original concerns, about Larry Lessig's petition to levy a $1 fee to retain copyright beyond 50 years, have been somewhat tempered by some research he has done. He is still not convinced about the idea but considers it worth discussing. His original concern: "I think that the forfeiture for nonpayment of the registration fee may constitute a taking of property, and may thus put the federal government on the hook for compensation, at least in some cases." Now he's found a 1982 Supreme Court case Texaco, Inc. v. Pond, which said that the government may require property owners to periodically register theri claims without having to compensate them. He is "still not completely sure that such a registration requirement would be entirely fair to the copyright owner" but accepts there are indeed good policy arguments for clearing away those property interests that aren't really being exploited by the owner, and are just interfering with the potentially valuable behavior of others." I don't always agree with Prof. Volokh but he certainly brings an interesting perspective to bear on complex issues.