3 ms·

Hmm. Looking at the cinemas, almost all the top movies are prequels or sequels, milking the same topic for the tenth time. I'd say that at least the movie indu

Hmm. Looking at the cinemas, almost all the top movies are prequels or sequels, milking the same topic for the tenth time. I'd say that at least the movie industry is somehow stuck in a rut.

paulddraper 1mo ago
Getting rid of copyright is going to make that problem worse not better... I'm wondering if you are reasoning correctly about this.
- inglor_cz 1mo ago
  I'd say that random people, if they reuse a copyrighted material, are a lot more likely to veer far off the beaten path than the big studios. Fan fiction, even if building on previous materials, seems to be much less repetitive to me.
  - paulddraper 1mo ago
    Sure. Your point was studios recycle IP a lot. My point is without copyright studios would recycle it even more. And your point now is that it would be higher quality.
    - inglor_cz 1mo ago
      My main point was that they recycle lazily, producing slop before the name even existed. Not every adaptation is lazy, I'd say that Odyssey is quite good, even though the original work is 100 generations old.
      - paulddraper 1mo ago
        Just imagine how much slop they could make if licensing wasn't holding them back
andsoitis 1mo ago
Wouldn’t removing copyright just lead to more “milking the same topic”? I don’t see how it would lead to a higher volume of original ideas.
- falcor84 1mo ago
  I can assure you that people had original ideas before the invention of copyright 300 years ago.
  - andsoitis 1mo ago
    > people had original ideas before the invention of copyright 300 years ago Not in dispute but that's also not the point being argued. The argument is: a) whether copyright kills original ideas. I don't think it does but would love to understand what the mechanism is if you think otherwise. b) whether removing copyright would lead to more "milking of same old topics" in movies. I think the answer is self-evidently yes.
    - inglor_cz 1mo ago
      Whether removing copyright would lead to more "milking of same old topics" in movies. I think the answer is self-evidently yes. This is not self-evident to me, at least as far as "milking" goes. Inspiration is not the same as milking. I specifically use the word "milking" for the sort of low-level repetitive quasi-effort that the cinemas are full of. OTOH if someone takes, IDK, Don Quijote and rewrites it into a space opera, it might actually be genuine fun, even though the old idea was there as a foundation.
      - deleted 1mo ago
        [deleted]
      - andsoitis 1mo ago
        > Don Quijote and rewrites it into a space opera, it might actually be genuine fun Don Quixote is in the public domain. Copyright isn’t holding back adaptations.
cestith 1mo ago
If you get rid of copyright, half of movies will be sequels to other people's work from the previous year.
- falcor84 1mo ago
  From my perspective from reading and watching fan fiction, these unofficial derived works are typically significantly more distinct and interesting than the official sequels, and I'd be cool with these getting bigger budgets.
  - andsoitis 1mo ago
    > From my perspective from reading and watching fan fiction, these unofficial derived works are typically significantly more distinct and interesting than the official sequels, and I'd be cool with these getting bigger budgets. This suggests that copyright isn't holding back these works...
    - inglor_cz 1mo ago
      "This suggests that copyright isn't holding back these works..." IF the copyright holders are kind enough not to harass those fans for infringement. And this kindness is quite commonplace in some contexts (people writing stories about their favorite literary characters rarely get cease-and-desisted), but much less in others ("fanfic" movies about Mickey Mouse are a no-go even for free).
      - andsoitis 1mo ago
        As an aside, I don’t know that fan fiction is the strongest case for originality!
        falcor84 1mo ago
        Maybe not the strongest, but definitely a case. For example, it's my understanding that many scholars believe that The Odyssey is fan fiction by a separate author(s) to that/those of The Iliad.

Hmm. Looking at the cinemas, almost all the top movies are prequels or sequels, milking the same topic for the tenth time. I'd say that at least the movie industry is somehow stuck in a rut.

paulddraper 1mo ago

Getting rid of copyright is going to make that problem worse not better... I'm wondering if you are reasoning correctly about this.

inglor_cz 1mo ago
I'd say that random people, if they reuse a copyrighted material, are a lot more likely to veer far off the beaten path than the big studios. Fan fiction, even if building on previous materials, seems to be much less repetitive to me.
- paulddraper 1mo ago
  Sure. Your point was studios recycle IP a lot. My point is without copyright studios would recycle it even more. And your point now is that it would be higher quality.
  - inglor_cz 1mo ago
    My main point was that they recycle lazily, producing slop before the name even existed. Not every adaptation is lazy, I'd say that Odyssey is quite good, even though the original work is 100 generations old.
    - paulddraper 1mo ago
      Just imagine how much slop they could make if licensing wasn't holding them back

andsoitis 1mo ago

Wouldn’t removing copyright just lead to more “milking the same topic”? I don’t see how it would lead to a higher volume of original ideas.

falcor84 1mo ago
I can assure you that people had original ideas before the invention of copyright 300 years ago.
- andsoitis 1mo ago
  > people had original ideas before the invention of copyright 300 years ago Not in dispute but that's also not the point being argued. The argument is: a) whether copyright kills original ideas. I don't think it does but would love to understand what the mechanism is if you think otherwise. b) whether removing copyright would lead to more "milking of same old topics" in movies. I think the answer is self-evidently yes.
  - inglor_cz 1mo ago
    Whether removing copyright would lead to more "milking of same old topics" in movies. I think the answer is self-evidently yes. This is not self-evident to me, at least as far as "milking" goes. Inspiration is not the same as milking. I specifically use the word "milking" for the sort of low-level repetitive quasi-effort that the cinemas are full of. OTOH if someone takes, IDK, Don Quijote and rewrites it into a space opera, it might actually be genuine fun, even though the old idea was there as a foundation.
    - deleted 1mo ago
      [deleted]
    - andsoitis 1mo ago
      > Don Quijote and rewrites it into a space opera, it might actually be genuine fun Don Quixote is in the public domain. Copyright isn’t holding back adaptations.

cestith 1mo ago

If you get rid of copyright, half of movies will be sequels to other people's work from the previous year.

falcor84 1mo ago
From my perspective from reading and watching fan fiction, these unofficial derived works are typically significantly more distinct and interesting than the official sequels, and I'd be cool with these getting bigger budgets.
- andsoitis 1mo ago
  > From my perspective from reading and watching fan fiction, these unofficial derived works are typically significantly more distinct and interesting than the official sequels, and I'd be cool with these getting bigger budgets. This suggests that copyright isn't holding back these works...
  - inglor_cz 1mo ago
    "This suggests that copyright isn't holding back these works..." IF the copyright holders are kind enough not to harass those fans for infringement. And this kindness is quite commonplace in some contexts (people writing stories about their favorite literary characters rarely get cease-and-desisted), but much less in others ("fanfic" movies about Mickey Mouse are a no-go even for free).
    - andsoitis 1mo ago
      As an aside, I don’t know that fan fiction is the strongest case for originality!
      - falcor84 1mo ago
        Maybe not the strongest, but definitely a case. For example, it's my understanding that many scholars believe that The Odyssey is fan fiction by a separate author(s) to that/those of The Iliad.