5 ms·

With no copyright law, how would they own anything? If anything, I'd expect the funding will go to those who can sustain themselves on things like Patreon and

With no copyright law, how would they own anything? If anything, I'd expect the funding will go to those who can sustain themselves on things like Patreon and Kickstarter, where money is provided before the work is created, making the copyright protection irrelevant. And while the big corporations will get to own those Patreons and Kickstarters, hopefully there will be enough competition to keep their greed in check. (Also, maybe more people will learn to tip for content even when they receive it for free)

keiferski 3y ago
That's why I wrote "functionally own." They'd own the distribution, eyeballs, and sales of merchandise. Without copyright laws, large media corporations have the budget and institutional know-how to simply copy and out-market any new creations that are made by less well-funded people. Good luck making a new kids cartoon if Disney is going to copy it and put billions of marketing dollars promoting it. It would be a death sentence to any smaller creator and services like Patreon would probably not even exist.
- Adverblessly 3y ago
  Copyright law does not stop large media corporations from copying because the original work itself is not what they need. Which would be more popular: Fortnite or "PUBG - Epic's Edition"? Do you really envision a small creator publishing a new kids cartoon and then Disney swooping in and... Creating a 2nd season for it and making money off of it?
  - keiferski 3y ago
    If there are no copyright laws, what's stopping Disney from just outright stealing and outproducing any ideas they find? If I'm a small time creator and make a new kids cartoon series with an original concept, what's stopping Disney from just outright publishing their own version, marketing it 100x more than I am capable of doing, and then selling merchandise for it? If there is no copyright, they don't even need to change the name.
    - Fargren 3y ago
      Let's explore this scenario, I think it is interesting. You are a small time creator and make a new kids cartoon series with an original concept. Regardless of Disney, how did you monetize it? Did you get commissioned to make it? Then you are already paid and Disney getting profit doesn't affect you. Did you make merchandise? Then I guess Disney's and Hasbro competes with you, but also they advertise for you, so maybe it's a wash? Do you stream it for free and get money from ads? I guess that model is kind of screwed.
    - sokoloff 3y ago
      > If there is no copyright, they don't even need to change the name. The absence of copyright does not necessarily mean the absence of trademark. If I want to make O-shaped oat cereal, I can. That doesn’t (and shouldn’t) give me the right to put it in a yellow box and call it Cheerios.
    - gedy 3y ago
      > what's stopping Disney from just outright stealing and outproducing any ideas they find? Isn't that exactly what they did in early years with Snow White, Pinocchio, fairy tales, etc?
    - Adverblessly 3y ago
      Let's say that I, John Doe, created and published an original kids cartoon about Goatman, a lovable half-goat half-man who has wonderful woodland adventures full of charm and wit. It is truly amazing and garners love and success, as shown by the Kickstarter funding for my 2nd season of Goatman blowing past the goal and getting 10x the funding I needed. This success attracts Disney's attention. In our no copyright world, you say that they will publish their own "Disney's Goatman" alternate 2nd season and market it heavily, and then sell merchandise to make back the money (because they won't profit enough off of tips or Patreon or Kickstarter or just charging for it because people can just "pirate" it). My first question would be, why would they even bother with publishing a show? Why not just release the Goatman merchandise and profit directly without spending the cost of making their own show. They could even just advertise John Doe's Goatman, it would be cheaper. But even if they do publish a "Disney's Goatman", why would anyone who liked "John Doe's Goatman" watch it, given that what they liked is John Doe's writing and creativity? And if "Disney's Goatman" was actually really good and popular, who was actually harmed by that? Do you think people will like "John Doe's Goatman" any less? There would be less money going to the 3rd season Kickstarter for "John Doe's Goatman"? Furthermore, in our current world, what really is stopping Disney from releasing their own original kids cartoon about Mangoat, a lovable half-man half-goat who has charming woodland adventures full of wit and wonder? Sorry, but it just doesn't really make sense to me when I think about the details.

keiferski 3y ago

That's why I wrote "functionally own." They'd own the distribution, eyeballs, and sales of merchandise. Without copyright laws, large media corporations have the budget and institutional know-how to simply copy and out-market any new creations that are made by less well-funded people. Good luck making a new kids cartoon if Disney is going to copy it and put billions of marketing dollars promoting it. It would be a death sentence to any smaller creator and services like Patreon would probably not even exist.

Adverblessly 3y ago
Copyright law does not stop large media corporations from copying because the original work itself is not what they need. Which would be more popular: Fortnite or "PUBG - Epic's Edition"? Do you really envision a small creator publishing a new kids cartoon and then Disney swooping in and... Creating a 2nd season for it and making money off of it?
- keiferski 3y ago
  If there are no copyright laws, what's stopping Disney from just outright stealing and outproducing any ideas they find? If I'm a small time creator and make a new kids cartoon series with an original concept, what's stopping Disney from just outright publishing their own version, marketing it 100x more than I am capable of doing, and then selling merchandise for it? If there is no copyright, they don't even need to change the name.
  - Fargren 3y ago
    Let's explore this scenario, I think it is interesting. You are a small time creator and make a new kids cartoon series with an original concept. Regardless of Disney, how did you monetize it? Did you get commissioned to make it? Then you are already paid and Disney getting profit doesn't affect you. Did you make merchandise? Then I guess Disney's and Hasbro competes with you, but also they advertise for you, so maybe it's a wash? Do you stream it for free and get money from ads? I guess that model is kind of screwed.
  - sokoloff 3y ago
    > If there is no copyright, they don't even need to change the name. The absence of copyright does not necessarily mean the absence of trademark. If I want to make O-shaped oat cereal, I can. That doesn’t (and shouldn’t) give me the right to put it in a yellow box and call it Cheerios.
  - gedy 3y ago
    > what's stopping Disney from just outright stealing and outproducing any ideas they find? Isn't that exactly what they did in early years with Snow White, Pinocchio, fairy tales, etc?
  - Adverblessly 3y ago
    Let's say that I, John Doe, created and published an original kids cartoon about Goatman, a lovable half-goat half-man who has wonderful woodland adventures full of charm and wit. It is truly amazing and garners love and success, as shown by the Kickstarter funding for my 2nd season of Goatman blowing past the goal and getting 10x the funding I needed. This success attracts Disney's attention. In our no copyright world, you say that they will publish their own "Disney's Goatman" alternate 2nd season and market it heavily, and then sell merchandise to make back the money (because they won't profit enough off of tips or Patreon or Kickstarter or just charging for it because people can just "pirate" it). My first question would be, why would they even bother with publishing a show? Why not just release the Goatman merchandise and profit directly without spending the cost of making their own show. They could even just advertise John Doe's Goatman, it would be cheaper. But even if they do publish a "Disney's Goatman", why would anyone who liked "John Doe's Goatman" watch it, given that what they liked is John Doe's writing and creativity? And if "Disney's Goatman" was actually really good and popular, who was actually harmed by that? Do you think people will like "John Doe's Goatman" any less? There would be less money going to the 3rd season Kickstarter for "John Doe's Goatman"? Furthermore, in our current world, what really is stopping Disney from releasing their own original kids cartoon about Mangoat, a lovable half-man half-goat who has charming woodland adventures full of wit and wonder? Sorry, but it just doesn't really make sense to me when I think about the details.