Or if he throws himself at the ground and misses he may owe the estate of Douglas Adams
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(Finally, an excuse to try this new toy. You Wouldn't Edit a Meme - Online Meme Generator)
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When those characters come into public domain just make a superhero team-up movie where Batman can fly and Superman is a rich vigilante who drives a fancy car. Done and done.
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I was just thinking that. It’d also provide a context for his costume that would make sense.
And capitalists!
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a movie using a 1930s-based Superman, fighting the KKK and capitalists right in the middle of the depression, wearing an outfit that doesn’t need some “it looks like an ‘S’ but it’s actually Kryptonian…” explanation (he sees some wrestlers and strong-men and their outfits), working for a newspaper (where he’s having as much of an impact as a reporter as he does as Superman), not worrying about being identified (because it’s not a surveillance society and no one gets a good look at him)…
Holding out for “rainbow Batman.”
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I’m spitballing here. I think the principle is sound, but the specifics are totally up for debate.
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I’m okay with the life of the creator as a standard. Unless that gets significantly extended in the future.
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Of course if copyright automatically expired with the death of the creator then anyone who wanted a piece of the multibillion-dollar Star Wars franchise would have had a pretty big motive for whacking George Lucas.
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He can afford bodyguards.
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I still think there are some good arguments against automatically ending copyright with the death of the creator.
For example, if a creator made something incredible shortly before they died (of whatever cause) then it would be a pretty raw deal if the creator’s family never had a chance to benefit from that work before wealthy corporations had a chance to exploit it. Also, a young creator could demand a much higher price to license their work than an old creator. Why pay top dollar to publish an older author’s work when it’s probably going to be in public domain within a few years?
Our current system is bananas, but I think that has more to do with how long copyright has been extended than the general principle of the thing.
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So The Tick, but intelligent.
I still love the comic where he got a job at Weekly World Planet writing crosswords… Poorly.
Edit - originally said Daily Planet. Memory isn’t what it was…
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If someone made a Superman movie in 2033 in which he could fly, Warner Bros. would have a case for copyright infringement “since DC gifted Superman with flight power later in the character’s mythology and it would still own the copyright over that version of Superman,”
Superman first flight was on February of 1940 in the second episode of “The Adventure of Superman” radio show. Then in in Action Comics #65, in October 1943.
So. if someone wanted to make the movie with Superman flying, all they would have to do is wait another 5 years in 2038.
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Looking forward to Superman Noir…
Standing up to bullets is cool. Getting hit in the face with a gun is humiliating.
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While I strongly believe all works should enter the public domain after a reasonable time (say, after 50 years or the life of the creator(s)), I think your timescale would disincentivize the creation of anything new. Why bother, if you can’t dream of making millions with your creation?
The Shadow was first published in 1931, and there have been rumblings about what, besides the stories as they age out, would be public domain or not.
I’ve seen other old IP that is at least partially in the public domain still have trusts controlling what gets put out or not. Trademarks are still in effect for a lot of these characters, including Superman and Mickey Mouse. But the look and original trademarks of the IP are different than now, so. I dunno.
Part of me likes the gatekeeping for consistency and QC. But when no one is doing things with the IP, like The Shadow, it is frustrating they are just sitting on it.
Well, technically, they aren’t sitting on it. They hired James Patterson to “write” some new Shadow novels. It appears it is “The Shadow” in name only.
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Sounds about right. The caveat that I’d add to that is that an individual copyright should never have a term less than a corporate term. So if a corporate term is 50 years, then I’d say the minimum term is 50 years for an individual (so if you die 20 years after writing something then it lasts another 30).
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this is not the typical motivation of people who make things. in fact, i’d say most people don’t need a motive to create at all. it’s enriching or cathartic enough by itself
if we want to encourage artists, the best thing we could do would be to restrain capitalism. make sure everyone has access to food, shelter, healthcare, and education. and ideally limit the work week to something like 30 hours
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As someone who has created plenty of art featuring licensed characters I love, knowing full well I can’t sell it, I know what you’re saying is true. I did it solely because I wanted to see it as I drew it.
I also know that if I created an original comic book or novel, knowing that it would drop into the public domain in 5 or 10 years, and that anyone could then use it to make millions without paying me a dime, that would certainly squash a lot of my enthusiasm for unleashing it into the world or even creating it in the first place. But maybe that’s just me.
Given the world in which we now live, artists should be fairly compensated for their work for a reasonable period of time (say, their lifetime). On a related issue, I’m rooting for the screenwriters currently striking to get paid decently, to receive residuals, and not to have their jobs replaced by an A.I. that’s been trained on their previous work.
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