What Disney Can Teach us About Copyright
So I may be a little late to the party (about 9,640,708 views late) but I thought I'd share this fairly ingenious video with anyone who might also be missing out.
Biggest takeaways? Ideas can't be copyrighted. You can only copyright the form an idea takes. Hence the billion versions of Romeo & Juliet.
Copyright lasts for a fixed amount of time. However, that fixed amount of time has grown since the 1970s to be virtually endless, preventing characters like Mickey Mouse from entering the public domain as he should have in 2004(see Copyright Term Extension Act). Can you imagine if the iconic image of Santa Claus was created under current copyright law? It would definitely make me think twice before putting out christmas decorations, lest having to pay heavy royalty fees.
One of the main arguments for copyright is that it protects the value of the work from dilution. However, I feel that a work (in some cases) becomes MORE popular and MORE valuable in the public domain, such as is the case with our friend Santa and the Easter Bunny. Proliferation can be power. By giving everyone ownership, we can ensure the protection and advancement of our favorite books, musical works, films and characters for years to come.
Biggest takeaways? Ideas can't be copyrighted. You can only copyright the form an idea takes. Hence the billion versions of Romeo & Juliet.
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| A free Santa is a happy Santa. |
One of the main arguments for copyright is that it protects the value of the work from dilution. However, I feel that a work (in some cases) becomes MORE popular and MORE valuable in the public domain, such as is the case with our friend Santa and the Easter Bunny. Proliferation can be power. By giving everyone ownership, we can ensure the protection and advancement of our favorite books, musical works, films and characters for years to come.
posted by FilmFlam at
7:31 PM
2 Comments:
I'd argue differently - taking Santa for example, he has evolved under the general whim and fancy of the public in general, shifting from a Bishop at first conception to a pipesmoking gnome to the jolly ole St. Nick we know today. If anything, he has served as a loose cultural barometer (disbarring the gnome -who knows what that means?) that has reflected both the growing variance of his audience and the cultural norms of his time. At this point, given his cultural ubiquity, one could argue that he has become a brand in himself governed by the commercial powers that be. That said, I think there is little difference between a commercial icon and a public one - in a way they both respond to much the same stimuli and can achieve much the same level of popularity, and, in the end, it is generally a commercial interest (acting in some sort of alignment with the public one - assuming it's successful) that ends up shaping the norm.
I just recently discovered your blog and am so glad I did. What a sweet post! I just recently discovered your blog and am so glad I did. What a sweet post!
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