Originally Posted by Hitch
Well, no---it simply means that someone would have to pay to use tools, forge metals or the like (or, to be precise, to use implements that would make those things easier). And, as was stated previously, however long copyright lasts, it does not stop anyone from reading the works--it simply discusses how long the original creator is paid for the use, or whether you have to borrow it at the library, if you wish to read it for free.
There's a constant theme throughout this thread as though when a book is copyrighted, it's locked away forever from the public eye. Nothing is further from the truth; it's copyrighted for the very purpose of putting it in the public eye. If you write a book, (and it is, under US law, copyrighted at that point in time, mind you), registering the copyright indicates that your intention is to put it in the public's hands. You then publish it or are published, and the book is freely available to the public--at a price; or, you walk down to the library to read it for free. Those are the terms. The book doesn't get locked in a vault where you can't get it. It does mean that you don't get it, in a possessory sense, for free. Which, it seems, brings us back to the entire point of this discussion, really.
With regard to mining public domain for the lofty goals of making more Pride and Prejudice and Zombie books, or what-have-you, there is always derivative copyright. To reference a book already referenced in this discussion, The Dune Encyclopedia is one such work--a derivative copyright. {shrug}. Yes, you have to obtain the permission of the copyright holder, and they retain the right to all the original characters, but it's not undoable.
I admit I'm a little...taken aback that now this conversation has moved from how long a copyright should last, in a more general sense, to how long a copyright should last so that new authors can use the characters, places or settings from expired copyrights in order to create "new" works. Given the explosion of P&P and Zombies-like works we've seen in the last 3 years (and P&P "sequels" and every other type of continuation of every type of classic book), that industry certainly seems to be heavily inhabited. I don't know how "thriving" it is, in terms of the...creators...being able to make money at it.
Shows like Grimm, et al, certainly make the same type of use of memes, cultural figures/myths, etc., as did Disney. Moviemakers certainly mooch ideas from other moviemakers without any copyright infringements seeming to stand in their way, so I can only presume that the topic we're discussing here is using specific characters, locations, and stories, rather than just general ideas or storylines.
I mean, just like everyone else, I'm sure, I'm dying to see a Three Musketeers and Jurassic Park mashup, but I guess I'll just have to wait.
Hitch
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