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I agree - basing it off creation could make sense but then I’d argue for maybe more like 50 years. Plenty of works take decades in and of themselves. George RR

by jjcon 3y ago

I agree - basing it off creation could make sense but then I’d argue for maybe more like 50 years. Plenty of works take decades in and of themselves. George RR Martin started Game of thrones 27 years ago. Should HBO just have been able to take his work and make millions without paying him a dime? It would just turn into corporations exploiting popular public domain works.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
Yes, that is what public domain is. What reason is there for society to give RR Martin more than 10 years of copyright protection? He is free to shop around his story to movie makers in that time. And if it is so good, someone will jump on it. After that, it is not “exploitation”, it is using something in the public domain.
- jjcon 3y ago
  > And if it is so good, someone will jump on it No they will just wait for the timer to tick away and monopolize on a community that someone else spent years building. Just because you change the law in your thought experiment for it to be legal doesn’t make it not exploitative. If we legalize slavery you can’t just say, “well its no longer exploitative, its the law”
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    People do not “own” communities that they have a right to profit from indefinitely. And yes, if it is good, people will jump on it. Evidence being that HBO did not wait 170 years to start making game of thrones. They saw a story they could sell, so they paid the author to make it. If they did not, another media maker could and would have. Warner brothers did not wait until Harry Potter copyrights expire. I am sure other media makers were bidding for Harry Potter rights too. Of course, Martin and Rowling have been paid less if copyright was 10 years. But would they have written the stories if they earned $10M instead of $100M or $1B or whatever they earned? I would err on the side of yes.

by jjcon 3y ago

lotsofpulp 3y ago

Yes, that is what public domain is. What reason is there for society to give RR Martin more than 10 years of copyright protection? He is free to shop around his story to movie makers in that time. And if it is so good, someone will jump on it. After that, it is not “exploitation”, it is using something in the public domain.

jjcon 3y ago
> And if it is so good, someone will jump on it No they will just wait for the timer to tick away and monopolize on a community that someone else spent years building. Just because you change the law in your thought experiment for it to be legal doesn’t make it not exploitative. If we legalize slavery you can’t just say, “well its no longer exploitative, its the law”
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  People do not “own” communities that they have a right to profit from indefinitely. And yes, if it is good, people will jump on it. Evidence being that HBO did not wait 170 years to start making game of thrones. They saw a story they could sell, so they paid the author to make it. If they did not, another media maker could and would have. Warner brothers did not wait until Harry Potter copyrights expire. I am sure other media makers were bidding for Harry Potter rights too. Of course, Martin and Rowling have been paid less if copyright was 10 years. But would they have written the stories if they earned $10M instead of $100M or $1B or whatever they earned? I would err on the side of yes.