Comment by ssl-3
I'm aware of the Berne Convention. It can be vacated. Sweeping changes have sweeping effects.
I can't conceive of a way for any of this hypothetical copyright system to work (ie, to not fall completely apart) without requiring registration.
How would this impact open source? Would I be required to register every repository that I have on GitHub?
Would anyone be able to license that repository for $(legislated amount) and make it into a closed source product?