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Notes -
Corporations do not own the copyrights for old works such as myths, traditional stories or even modern 19th century works.
You can make your own Little Mermaid story. Just don't copy Disney's distinctive cartoon styling. Don't draw her with red hair and a seashell bra, or the Disney corporation's lawyers will go after you. Just make up any other possible look and styling.
What stories did you grow up telling and being told? What characters did you and your friends pretend to be when they played? Sure some did come from the old books that have been elevated in the public domain. But most of them were not, were they?
I claim that you're being robbed of a natural part of the human experience in this way, and mostly to support rent seekers rather than the people who originated those stories.
It's been 50 years, you and I should be able to make our own Star Wars if we want, and it is insane that we can not. At the least it is insane that we won't be able to once Lucas is dead + 70 years because somebody paid money to buy an exclusive license to our collective experience.
Owning a 150 year old story is absurd. It's an unnatural privilege borne of proximity to power with not a shred of legitimacy, not to mention a State established monopoly. Whatever minute rules it administers itself with does not change this.
Actually, the original Star Wars movie was published in 1977, just seven months before the Copyright Act of 1976 went into effect. So it falls under the 95 years from publication rule and will enter the public domain in January 1st, 2073.
Only 48 more years to go!
(The sequels are more complicated; do they count as works for hire, in which case they also fall under date of publication + 95, or are they the personal creation of George Lucas, falling under death + 70?)
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I took "myths of our people" a bit too literally. Sure, copyright lasts too long. As best I know partially the fault of the Disney Corporation. Death of author plus 70 years is excessive.
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