Techdirt: When it comes to Star Wars, both Lucasfilm and Disney have shown themselves to be perfectly insane when it comes to IP protectionism. Examples of this are legion, and neither company has come out of them with a stellar or fan-friendly image, generally speaking. That is probably why when Toos, the guy behind the quite popular Star Wars Theory YouTube channel, decided to put out a Darth Vader fan-film, he went out of his way to attempt to follow all the rules.
3 comments:
Copyright and anything you want to make that has anything to do with something that is already out into the world is a very tricky battle. This is especially so when it comes to fans making things but a trend seems to appear. There are fan films out there that are quite useful, a big example is the Deadpool fan film. They had to deal with copyright issues of the comics and luckily, to my knowledge, they were not hit with any claim. Instead, the fan film did so well that a large company turned over and actually decided to do a Deadpool movie even after rejecting it. Since then the company has branched out and really given the viewers what they want which has been rewarding them nicely. This article seems to hit that same mood point. A fan film was created, but it was hit with a claim that caused some drama but luckily Lucasfilm stepped in and made it all okay. I can only see that this helps because their public image should improve since they saved a fan from dealing with issues and rightfully so since he was within their designated rule set. It is a nice article to read and I wish there were more of these scenarios popping up. Large companies have a say, so why not use it for the better.
This article/story sounds very interesting and out there to me. Copyright is a tricky and confusing thing that a lot of different loop holes and rules and catches. Disney is notorious for their rules and how they stick to their stuff stronger than any glue I can think of. A perfect example of this would be the Mickey mouse steamboat willie case with public domain. But that being said in todays culture with the world becoming more and more things coming out into the world and sharing knowledge is wider than ever. At the same time fandom is growing and as Disney controls some of the largest and most powerful franchise in the world. This case hear is just great to see as Lucasfilm is looking out for their own fans and their brand for themselves. People like this that go so far out of their way to do this crazy acts of fandom and do them as well as Toos. It’s really nice to see however.
I think it was right of Lucasfilms to step in on Too’s behalf. Not only had he followed their set of rules but he respected that it was their property and tried to show that respect in the creation of his fan film. It is my opinion that Disney probably grabbed this film due to its popularity. Had it been a garbage film with six views buried five pages deep in the search results they would not have cared regardless of the creator’s initial respect for copyright ownership. They would probably not have known it even existed had it been so unpopular. Disney saw it as an opportunity to profit given that it was popular and it was not dwindling in popularity. Why do they even need it as a source of revenue given their massive intake over all they already own? Did they know beforehand that the creator had inquired about and followed proper protocol? It really only makes them look bad by doing these things, although I guess their reputation is pretty much untarnishable given the persistent love and consistent quality of what they put out to the world.
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