3 ms·

The streaming rights for Friends, South Park or Big Bang Theory seem to still be a big deal, and their first episodes are 29, 26 and 16 years old respectively.

The streaming rights for Friends, South Park or Big Bang Theory seem to still be a big deal, and their first episodes are 29, 26 and 16 years old respectively. Breaking Bad is 15 years old, one year older than Avatar (the James Cameroon one, Last Airbender is 18 years old). And then of course there are classics like Star Trek (TOS is 58 years old, TNG is 36 years old) or Star Wars (Episode IV is 46 years old). 99% of media is forgotten about after 20 years, but the rest makes up for that in profit. Of course for some of them you could argue that having the old stuff freely available would boost the popularity of the newer adaptations, spinoffs, reboots, etc. But I think that's rocking the boat too much to be viable, and some content does genuinely take years or decades to start to be appreciated.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
What is the purpose of copyright? Is it not to offset the nature of easily copying intellectual work with near zero physical marginal costs? Surely, the incentive to create all the content you mentioned is still there with a 10 or 20 year copyright. Some people might earn a few hundred million less, but not sure why it is in society’s interest to offer up the police and courts in upholding copyrights for 120+ years, and then turn around and pay extra for content that would have been made anyway if society only offered 10 or 20 years of copyright. > some content does genuinely take years or decades to start to be appreciated. Seems like an edge case that is not worth the cost.
wombatpm 3y ago
So there needs to some mechanism to extend copyright for certain properties. Some sort of extension fee that’s 1million or 10% of last years revenue whichever is higher. Such a fee would prevent squatting on properties forever, while allowing protection for valuable properties.
nitwit005 3y ago
Copyright law is a restriction on freedom (the freedom to make copies, derivative works, etc), and causes enormous financial costs. The justification given for copyright law is that it will, in essence, promote the arts. No extra TV shows are going to get made because there is a chance that, 20 years down the line, the show is still making money. It's purely a financial gift to the large businesses that own old copyrights, at the expense of everyone else.

lotsofpulp 3y ago

What is the purpose of copyright? Is it not to offset the nature of easily copying intellectual work with near zero physical marginal costs? Surely, the incentive to create all the content you mentioned is still there with a 10 or 20 year copyright. Some people might earn a few hundred million less, but not sure why it is in society’s interest to offer up the police and courts in upholding copyrights for 120+ years, and then turn around and pay extra for content that would have been made anyway if society only offered 10 or 20 years of copyright. > some content does genuinely take years or decades to start to be appreciated. Seems like an edge case that is not worth the cost.

wombatpm 3y ago

So there needs to some mechanism to extend copyright for certain properties. Some sort of extension fee that’s 1million or 10% of last years revenue whichever is higher. Such a fee would prevent squatting on properties forever, while allowing protection for valuable properties.

nitwit005 3y ago

Copyright law is a restriction on freedom (the freedom to make copies, derivative works, etc), and causes enormous financial costs. The justification given for copyright law is that it will, in essence, promote the arts. No extra TV shows are going to get made because there is a chance that, 20 years down the line, the show is still making money. It's purely a financial gift to the large businesses that own old copyrights, at the expense of everyone else.