Comments on: Observations on music and copyright http://www.caitlinfitzsimmons.com/2008/12/21/observations-on-music-and-copyright/ Freelance writer and editor for hire. Mon, 31 May 2010 02:13:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: blog http://www.caitlinfitzsimmons.com/2008/12/21/observations-on-music-and-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-24 blog Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:14:58 +0000 http://www.caitlinfitzsimmons.com/?p=71#comment-24 Hi Celeste! You make some good points - some of that stuff is utter rubbish and quite exploitative. However I'm not sure that banning it is the right answer - it's too blunt an instrument. Sometimes the derivative works can be good - I really liked the movie Clueless (based on Emma), Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books are very popular, and of course Wide Sargasso Sea is a prequel to Jane Eyre but a classic in its own right. The thing that offends me most about copyright extension is that copyright was initially extended in large part because of lobbying by Disney, which stood to lose copyright on Mickey Mouse. Yet, Disney has benefited from the public domain more than just about any other company with their remakes of classic stories such as Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin and so on. - Caitlin Hi Celeste! You make some good points – some of that stuff is utter rubbish and quite exploitative. However I’m not sure that banning it is the right answer – it’s too blunt an instrument.

Sometimes the derivative works can be good – I really liked the movie Clueless (based on Emma), Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next books are very popular, and of course Wide Sargasso Sea is a prequel to Jane Eyre but a classic in its own right.

The thing that offends me most about copyright extension is that copyright was initially extended in large part because of lobbying by Disney, which stood to lose copyright on Mickey Mouse. Yet, Disney has benefited from the public domain more than just about any other company with their remakes of classic stories such as Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin and so on.

- Caitlin

]]> By: Celeste Fitzsimmons http://www.caitlinfitzsimmons.com/2008/12/21/observations-on-music-and-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-23 Celeste Fitzsimmons Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:45:12 +0000 http://www.caitlinfitzsimmons.com/?p=71#comment-23 One aspect of lapsed copyright that particularly annoys me is other writers or artists can make a great deal of money, at sometimes very little exercise of creativity, by writing prequels, sequels and various extrapolations of other writers works. Everyone it seems is currently publishing Jane Austen knockoffs, even Colleen McCullough whose previous experience of being sued by the holders of LM Montgomery's copyright hasn't discouraged her usage of others material. Most of it is quite enjoyable fluff but sometimes when a modern writer uses material in a way that is disrespectful and distorts the original writers intentions and values, I am offended. To a great degree, using well known characters provides writers with a ready made audience and hence generates revenue for writers and publishers, to therefore use the material in an exploitive way adds insult to injury. One aspect of lapsed copyright that particularly annoys me is other writers or artists can make a great deal of money, at sometimes very little exercise of creativity, by writing prequels, sequels and various extrapolations of other writers works. Everyone it seems is currently publishing Jane Austen knockoffs, even Colleen McCullough whose previous experience of being sued by the holders of LM Montgomery’s copyright hasn’t discouraged her usage of others material. Most of it is quite enjoyable fluff but sometimes when a modern writer uses material in a way that is disrespectful and distorts the original writers intentions and values, I am offended. To a great degree, using well known characters provides writers with a ready made audience and hence generates revenue for writers and publishers, to therefore use the material in an exploitive way adds insult to injury.

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