So derivative.
There has been much discussion over copyright around the web here lately. What with the Eldred v. Ashcroft decision and Aaron Swartz’s Tips for Book Authors where he equates holding onto a copyright for longer than it takes to recoup the cost of writing the book with piracy the discussion has gone all over the board.
I want to discuss derivative works. I’m sure y’all have heard of The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall. The lady wrote a book about Scarlet O’Hara’s mulatto half sister. No, that character was never in Gone With The Wind but the character was derived from Gone With The Wind, in fact the whole book is derived from Gone With The Wind. Margaret Mitchell’s estate didn’t want the book published and sued over copyright infringement. I won’t go into the legal wranglings of all this. That isn’t what I want to dwell on.
What I want to dwell on is the fact that everytime I read a book that I thorougly enjoy little subplots spin off in my imagination. Now, I don’t have the patience or discipline to turn those subplots and stories into anything I’d care to publish but I know if this process happens in my mind it must happen in other peoples minds, people who do have the patience and discipline to create new works. By keeping these potential works trapped in the minds of their various authors with copyrights that prohibit derivative works I think we are all a little poorer.
Just an opinion.
General | Larry Burton | 20 January 2003 |
