Louis_Cypher
Arcane
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2016
- Messages
- 1,991
IPs are so stupid. You can’t constrain human storytelling that way. It just creates problems. It’s natural for humans to retell and alter stories (e.g. fanfiction), but copyright law makes that illegal for a century or longer. This is fucking stupid. We can see the problems right now. IPs last too long and end up rotting. IPs get forgotten and cannot be rescued. Creators and fans attack each other. Copyright shouldn’t last more than 14-28 years. The overwhelming majority of profit on any given work is made within that window, so it makes no economic sense to have it last longer. Trademark law already covers protecting creators against fraud and that lasts for as long as you actively use a trademark.
On the far left end of the political spectrum, anarchism, etc, there was always an argument that intellectual property shouldn't exist at all. No copyrights, etc. But we know why they exist in our current system; to protect works that authors feel is their baby, and to give profit to companies re-selling old ideas. It has been extended in recent decades, arguably due to the greed of business in the USA. Corporations like Disney most certainly don't want their 100-year old movies becoming public domain. I think most common people, on the street, agree that copyright should be shorter, perhaps 40-50 years, to pluck a figure out of the air.
It would have probably saved Star Trek, my most beloved franchise, if it had entered the public domain in say 2007, around the 40th anniversary. Fans would have made better productions than we now get, with certainty. But at the same time, I disagree with your view that things "rot" by themselves. Most of these franchises were deliberately attacked by political activism. Conan hasn't rotted as an "IP", after 100 years, because it largely escaped. Star Trek hasn't. The difference? Choices. Talentless assholes ruin franchises, not time, the mere presence of cosmic time. They could have been managed far better in every case.