Comment by dotwaffle
16 hours ago
You're assuming copyright exists to protect studios first. No, it protects everyone equally. A studio can't take a 20 year old story and make a blockbuster out of it without licensing the story. That is precisely what would happen with a short-term copyright system. It won't be that studios will wait 20 years, they'll just look predominantly at 20 year old publications to see what just became available.
The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
The studio doesn't need to, they're powerful enough to change it enough to be legally distinct and advertise it enough that people forget the original.
> No, it protects everyone equally.
That is a laughable fantasy. It protects those with money and legal resources to enforce it, and that’s it.
I’m reminded of the case where some late night show played a video they found online as part of a segment, then later were able to copyright strike the original video. The original creator, being an individual, had no recourse.
> A studio can't take a 20 year old story and make a blockbuster out of it without licensing the story.
Again, laughable. Disney has done it but was never sued for being too big. It was done to Harlan Ellison too (who did spend years fighting it and won). Ripoffs happens frequently, you don’t hear about them that much precisely because studios in general know to rip off those without the means to put up a fight.