Quote:
Originally Posted by tubemonkey
Why shouldn't it? Why should Disney be forced to give away Mickey Mouse? There's nothing stopping anyone from creating their own anthropomorphic critter and making money off it. How is society benefited by stealing Disney's critter and depriving them of future profits? Is imagination is so limited that Mickey is the only mouse in the entire universe that people can write books and make movies about?
Putting Mickey in the public domain is nothing more than a greedy power grab to limit Disney's profits and allow others to profit off of his creation.
|
I get that you think that the Disney corporation should be payed for ever for the efforts of Walt Disney, the person. But, you make no coherent argument other than because you say so and then try to dress it up in emotional language. I suspect that's because there is no coherent rational.
The standard rational for copyright is to encourage writers to write. Authors through history have built on other works and a common culture. "Call me Ishmael" sets the tone for the book Moby Dick because his readers understand the story of Ishmael from the bible.
I'm reading a book at the moment, Angel Mage, which is based on the Three Musketeers. Part of what makes it clever is the reader comparing it to the original story. Roger Zelazny's book A Night in the Lonesome October, uses characters such as Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper. Heinlein's book, Glory Road brings in Cyrano de Bergerac.
The list goes on and one. As has been pointed out, even Disney is built on an edifice of public domain - Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Aladdin.
This is why public domain is so important. Every artist and scientist stands on the shoulders of giants.