[FFML] Continue dead or abandon fics by other authors.

[Bob Schroeck]

Bryan Cupp wrote:
>>> On 8/12/2015 9:48 AM, seb ren wrote:
>>>> Honestly, the idea of "intellectual property" is meaningless drivel
>>>> dreamed up by the various majors' legal representatives and their ilk.
>>> You'll find it difficult to find anyone who agrees with this
>>> statement. You'll also find it difficult to find anyone who isn't
>>> insulted by this assertion, especially artists and writers.
>> He'd also find it very difficult to find any courts of law that would
>> agree. Judges tend the have very poor senses of humor.
> This statement and the next... words just fail to describe....  needless to say its just so wrong.
> I really agree with Larry and MM here.

It certainly shows a skewed or distorted knowledge of the history of
copyright.  The only thing new about "intellectual property" is the
phrase itself.  And the *abuse* of copyright to turn it into an eternal
revenue stream for corporations.

>> Anyone who thinks that creative work is public property needs to have a
>> serious talk with their local legal consultant. That, and maybe go back
>> to school. It implies a very serious lack of touch with the real world.

Well, there I have to disagree with you.  Throughout history, creative
work went *directly* into the public domain upon its release into the
wild, and that was considered a benefit -- it enriched the culture.
Copyright was invented a few centuries ago to *encourage* more creators,
by guaranteeing them an exclusive right to market their work and make
money on it *for a short period of time*, after which the work then
continued on into the public domain to further enrich the culture.  This
was a great idea, but was based around the Enlightenment view of a
creator -- say a pamphleteer or a painter -- releasing his works himself
and never anticipated anything like the modern media corporation.  When
copyright lasted for 17 years, as it did for centuries, it lasted long
enough to reward a creator but short enough to encourage the creator to
create *more*, resulting in a vastly enriched public domain.  Everyone
was happy -- until immortal media corporations appeared and didn't want
to see their sources of revenue get handed over to the hoi polloi and
get devalued.  Suddenly, copyright had to be expanded many many times
over what it had originally been "for the good of the creators".

And if you don't believe me on that, compare the history of copyright
extensions in the US to the history of impending copyright expiration
for Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie".  You will find that every time
the first Mickey Mouse cartoon is in danger of going into the public
domain, there is suddenly a flurry of activity in Congress to extend
the duration of copyright.

> Do either of you know any fanfiction authors who have asked the
>  original owner if they could use their characters, settings and
>  what not?

<raises hand>  Um.  I have explicit permission from Mercedes Lackey
to write "Drunkard's Walk I", which is set in Valdemar.  When I get
around to it.

But that's not really relevant.

> Are you saying that a fanfiction author is any different from a
>  published author, or that the fanfiction author should be given
> special consideration because they are easier to contact, or have+
> less fans?

If he is, he's wrong.  Fanfiction is as protected by copyright as the
works we base it on.  Even if his ridiculous assertion that it's a
creation of the media corporations is true, it *still* protects the
fan writer.

However... for the very reasons we can write what we do, he has nothing
really barring him from swooping in and adding his own ending to an
unfinished story.  Nothing in the *law* at least, as long as he didn't
claim the entire thing outright.  Respect for the original writer would
kind of require, I think, at least a good-faith effort to find them to
ask.  There's complying with the law, and then there's not being a jerk.

-- Bob

===========================================================================
Bob Schroeck         http://www.accessdenied-rms.net        rms at eclipse.net
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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