Quote:
Originally Posted by leebase
Either you are trying to write something "original" -- which you'll have no trouble doing. Or you are TRYING to bank on someone else's material.
|
Or, thirdly: You want to engage with the source material, retell a story you love in a different way or play with it and its characters, for the enjoyment of both yourself and your readers.
Some examples of derivative works which are improved because they are derivative, and would be less enjoyable if the links to the works which inspired them had been removed:
- The book "The Henchman of Zenda" by KJ Charles. A reimagining of "The Prisoner of Zenda". What if the protagonist of Prisoner was a self-serving liar? What if the women in the story had agency, intelligence, and their own motivations? And what if Jasper Detchard (newly hired henchman) had a deep appreciation of the figure Rupert of Hentzau cuts in well-fitted breeches?
- The various films based on Jane Austen's novels. Sure, it's possible to make films about the conflicting demands of love, propriety, duty, and economics in the early 1800s, flavoured with a dry sense of humour and a somewhat cynical view of human nature, from scratch. But Austen was a brilliant author, and a script based on her books has a very strong starting point. Also, it's enjoyable to see different takes on a well-know story.
- The web comic "My life a background Slytherin" by Emily McGovern. This one would be completely meaningless without the context of Harry Potter. If you've read the books or seen the films, it's hilarious. (This one probably is a copyright violation, but fortunately, Rowling hasn't chosen to go after her.)
Quote:
|
And, fwiw, there's only value in these characters because everyone CAN'T copy them. If everyone COULD...then the value would quickly evaporate. What people want is to be able to horn in on Disney's built up value....but if they could then everyone could....and then there'd be no value.
|
This is obviously not true. There's a lot of value in characters which are in the public domain. Or are you telling me that noone enjoys dressing up as Santa Claus, or that it's impossible to make any money by making films, TV series, or novels retelling the stories of Sherlock Holmes, or that noone bothers to produce plays by Shakespeare anymore?