5 ms·
It's a legal thing. Everyone is worried that their intellectual properties might turn public domain.
by Raphmedia 8y ago
It's a legal thing. Everyone is worried that their intellectual properties might turn public domain.
- ardy42 8y ago> It's a legal thing. Everyone is worried that their intellectual properties might turn public domain. If that's the case, couldn't CBS have just licensed its IP to these people in a good-natured way?
- modzu 8y agocbs seems to be a machine of human automatons not actually thinking or doing anything.. just following an algorithm, copying the shapes and colors from gene roddenberrys works and sticking on a price tag every business cycle
- ryandrake 8y agoCompanies are still composed of people, and you’re denying their agency and culpability. If you work for Company X and are deciding or helping to implement something bad or wrong, you are personally doing that wrong thing and are culpable. They shouldn’t be able to hide behind the company. Actual people are doing things. Throwing our hands up and saying “well, it’s the company that’s wrong, nobody in particular!” Just helps to enable bad people to behave badly in bad companies. This is true for silly things like Star Trek to serious things like working with dictators, NSA spying, etc.
- modzu 8y agoi agree with you 100%! i think you misunderstand -- thats exactly what im saying
- bodas 8y agoCopyright doesn't turn public domain if you don't exercise your rights. A work only becomes public domain if the copyright period lapses or (in some countries) if they make an explicit declaration to that effect.
- dingaling 8y agoCopyright would cover the original design documents for the sets and props, but not the shapes and colours themselves 'as seen on TV'. From what I understand unlicensed clean-room reproduction of sets could violate design marks, if those were even registered. Like other trademarks those do indeed need to be enforced.
- LanceH 8y agoBut trademark infringement doesn't trigger merely from copying. The infuriating thing about dealing with lawyers on IP is they'll write a C&D that "your work infringes on the IP of my client." There is never any mention of what infringes, except the broadest possible, and there is no responsibility for a false claim.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- logfromblammo 8y agoThe only thing you can lose by failing to defend it is trademark. Declining to enforce copyright or patent now does not prejudice your ability to do it later. That's actually the whole point of "submarine patents". You wait until the infringement is profitable, then you sue to take it.
- ergothus 8y agoThis is why phrases like "IP" are tricky: copyright is not in danger of going public if undefended. Neither are patents. Trademark is, because trademark is about preventing consumer confusion, not about encouraging you to innovate. And even if this was a concern, you can grant fan licensing, as reddit (see that comment), Lucas arts, most rpg companies, etc have done. In fact, paramount has such a policy, but apparently aren't applying it here. It really bugs me that companies have convinced people that they "have no choice" but to make people less happy by twisting a law intended to HELP consumers. That's not the case, and even if it was they still have options.