Some examples of how public domain works can be monetized once they no longer have copyright protections.
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Sure, but those are new, unique works and are straying quite far from the posthumously edited works cassette was talking about in the post Iâm talking about:
Note the âthese casesâ cassette is talking about, thereâs no attempt to end all monetization of any and all intellectual property, this post (and this thread) is about something a lot more specific.
Iâll start a website hosting e-books of public domain works that I have chatGTP go through and remove offensive bits and put up a patreon if I get enough seed capital. Easy money. Whoâs in?
Yeah, I realize they are different concepts, but the point is that if there is a way to monetize âPooh, but heâs a serial killerâ there will also probably be a way to monetize, âHuck Finn but without the N word.â So even if the book enters the public domain when the author dies, there will still probably be examples of edited versions or annotated versions for certain works. I guess the question is how would they be marketed and how clear would it be that you are buying âWoke Twainâ vs the Original Version. Also, I guess there is an issue of whether the fact that someone is an heir should influence their ability to put out an edited version.
I think youâll have a pretty hard time coming up with an objective standard for this, nor does it address the original question, if making the âbadâ kinds of posthumous edits should be prohibited (if you can come up with a reasonable objective standard), or if youâd just discourage people from buying or otherwise funding the bad ones. I disagree with cassette that eliminating intellectual property protections for the works of dead creators will eliminate the creation of edited works, even if I grant him his dubious premise, that the only reason anyone would ever make one is to make money.
Probably the absolute most likely case for this thing to happen and of course it already has.
7500 copies printed, got written up in the NY Times. I canât find any indication of a second printing.
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No one has any issue with this, which is very different from heirs preventing the original text to be distributed.
I donât think you can have it both ways, where both Dahlâs heirs cannot prevent the original editions from further publication and Dahlâs original text is sacrosanct. Either someone owns the rights, in which they can elect to issue new editions, not publish the original editions, or both, or no one does, in which case anyone can issue their own changes as they will and attempt to profit off of them as they can.
Of course you can have it both ways. Copyright law doesnât have to allow heirs to make changes to the work. Setting aside that I donât think copyright protection should extend past the death of the author.
Ok but can we talk about James Bond? What could they possibly be changing that would have any impact on a story about a womanizing murderer?
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I feel like one side of the debate is intentionally overlooking that absurdity aspect.
Well, thatâs a novel take on copyright law, but at least itâs an answer. So, if copyright still exists, you think edits should be prohibited after the author dies, but youâd rather live in a world where anyone can edit as they will?
No? The copyright protection should expire when the author dies.
Oh I donât know, recast/reboot Bond as a woman? or a black woman? remember when the incels screamed at the horror of this interesting concept?
That market is saturated. We need to make edits that insert more offensive bits.
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thatâs the corniest shit iâve ever heard
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Specifically Bond or in general? I recall them getting big mad at lady ghostbusters. And thereâs always some comic book shit theyâre getting rustled over.
Also I didnât mean some future hypothetical Jane Bond, I meant the edits that already happened.
Glad to have you on board against the Dahl edits. Reboot and write your own fan fic to your heartâs content. Just donât say it was written by Roald Dahl lol.
Team âedits are fineâ welcomes our newest draftee, Ian Fleming, from 1964.
In several of the books, including âThunderballâ (1961), âQuantum of Solaceâ (1960) and âGoldfingerâ (1959), ethnicities have been removed. The edits to the U.S. edition of âLive and Let Dieâ were authorized by Fleming himself. Fleming died in 1964.
Ian Fleming Publications told The Telegraph: âWe at Ian Fleming Publications reviewed the text of the original Bond books and decided our best course of action was to follow Ianâs lead. We have made changes to âLive and Let Dieâ that he himself authorized.
âFollowing Ianâs approach, we looked at the instances of several racial terms across the books and removed a number of individual words or else swapped them for terms that are more accepted today but in keeping with the period in which the books were written.