The way I've seen fanartists and fanfic writers root for corporations like Disney and Nintendo in the name of "taking down AI techbros" has been genuinely baffling. I think a lot of fandom has genuinely forgotten that what we're doing is copyright infringement, and that while corporations and wealthy individual IP-holders largely tolerate us now (because they see us as free advertising and captive consumers)... this hasn't always been true (anyone remember Anne Rice?), and it may not be true in the future. For ambitious projects - fan-movies, fangames, etc - the risk is already ready real in the here and now.
Yea, I think people are in love with the fantasy that copyright and IP will let them "punish" enemies and bad actors. We have a cultural narrative that IP "exists to protect creators," and it's seductive. It's really hard to debunk an idea that appeals to people's emotions, even with ample evidence disproving it.
Good article, by the way! I want to link this to other people when I talk about how copyright reform should be a political stance for fandom. Have you read this book, out of curiosity?
(One idea I have for how to change copyright: if the original work hasn't been legally available to purchase firsthand from the rights-holders in over 20 years, it immediately goes into the public domain. There's a lot of books, movies, games, etc that are completely out of print. If nothing else, this would incentivize companies to actually fucking continue selling their older niche media, instead of just punishing pirates in such a way that no means of accessing the work exist.)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-12-11 04:43 am (UTC)The way I've seen fanartists and fanfic writers root for corporations like Disney and Nintendo in the name of "taking down AI techbros" has been genuinely baffling. I think a lot of fandom has genuinely forgotten that what we're doing is copyright infringement, and that while corporations and wealthy individual IP-holders largely tolerate us now (because they see us as free advertising and captive consumers)... this hasn't always been true (anyone remember Anne Rice?), and it may not be true in the future. For ambitious projects - fan-movies, fangames, etc - the risk is already ready real in the here and now.
Yea, I think people are in love with the fantasy that copyright and IP will let them "punish" enemies and bad actors. We have a cultural narrative that IP "exists to protect creators," and it's seductive. It's really hard to debunk an idea that appeals to people's emotions, even with ample evidence disproving it.
Good article, by the way! I want to link this to other people when I talk about how copyright reform should be a political stance for fandom. Have you read this book, out of curiosity?
(One idea I have for how to change copyright: if the original work hasn't been legally available to purchase firsthand from the rights-holders in over 20 years, it immediately goes into the public domain. There's a lot of books, movies, games, etc that are completely out of print. If nothing else, this would incentivize companies to actually fucking continue selling their older niche media, instead of just punishing pirates in such a way that no means of accessing the work exist.)