Electronic Frontier Foundation: Every January 1st, we celebrate the creative works that become free to use and adapt as their copyright expires. This year, that includes the iconic sci-fi film “Metropolis,” the first Best Picture Oscar winner “Wings,” the classic children’s book “Goodnight Moon,” and the last of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.
5 comments:
Despite this article having an apparent "call to action" format and narrative, it lacks an actual call to action; there are no solutions offered or ways the reader may be able to support the cause, assuming they agree with the idea that we need to do what we can to, "make sure that copyright promotes creativity and innovation."
I am now interested in what it will look like in a few years when some of Disney's classic tales and movies enter the public domain. What will that mean for theatrical renditions of them? Additionally, could a DisneyWorld/Land-esc remake be legal even if not owned by the Disney company? Disney's money alone has the power to swing the general public and lawmakers' opinions if they choose to do so.
There are some ways I disagree with the article. Are there examples where copywriting supports creativity? AI art has been at the center of a lot of controversies lately. Artists are upset when specific stylistic elements are produced by an AI that replicates a particular artist's style without that artist's permission. If so, does this become an intellectual property and copyright issue? Are AIs only able to be programmed with content from the public domain, and if so, when does that become an issue?
Copyright's purpose is crucial to the entertainment industry as the purpose of copyright from my understanding is to make sure the ARTISTS can make a living and own their work for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately for the general public certain companies (...Disney…) have abused the purpose of the copyright system clinging onto works from the early 20th century. As art is cyclical, often building off of each other I believe that this continuous copyright extension in the last couple decades will end up causing a huge dip in passing on the knowledge, history and culture of the everyday person from the 1940s-1960s. I am more hopeful for the future as the general public has finally stood up for copyright laws as reworking media has become more popular on social media platforms. Perhaps the thing I am personally looking forward most to entering the public domain is plays as that gives them the opportunity to be reworked and changed for the future.
Theo Kronemer
US Copyright Law is fascinating, and, as with many types of law, has many things involved. I remember when Great Gatsby came out of copyright when I was reading it in class in High School, and folks would show up with the parodies and other versions of the text to class. I had a conversation with a classmate (B) about what old Disney movies going out of copyright would mean and it’s interesting to consider. While I’m not positive, I wouldn’t be super surprised if we saw some lobbying by big entertainment companies to try and turn the laws in their favor to continue to boost their profits and keep their work out of the public domain. I am personally a big fan of the public domain and being able to see what people create on their own. I’ve been loosely following the Wizards of the Coast vs. what seems to be most of their fanbase saga as they try and tighten their open game license of their product to (what I think very much deserved) backlash as their brand is maintained and was built almost entirely from what others create with their work. It’ll be interesting to follow what happens to copyright law in the US in the future!
One thing I specifically find very interesting about this article is how it takes into account the historical downsides to extended copyright terms. By allowing for elongated periods of copyright ownership to stand, we risk the artistic abilities of people from modern times trying to encapsulate the historical integrity of different periods of time. I specifically really like how it goes over the Copyright Term Extension Act, and how the enactment of such a copyright allowed for the historic erasure of a large portion of silent films and other historical artifacts. By allowing for long-standing copyrights to be held, we inadvertently erase the creativity of modern artists by restricting their ability to create. It is often said that “no idea is entirely an original idea”, and the existence of long-standing copyrights specifically contributes to the lack of creative works being produced publicly by artists in a multitude of different fields.
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