Xaviar sez, “This week Comixpedia is publishing an article written by T Campbell called ‘Creative Commons and Webcomics’ which features a roundtable discussion with comments from Lawrence Lessig, Neeru Paharia (Assistant Director, Creative Commons), Mia Garlick (General Counsel, Creative Commons), JD Frazer (Creator of UserFriendly, AKA Iliad) and Cory Doctorow.”
The problem with Superman and Siegel and Shuster wasn’t too little or too much copyright: it was sleazy, sleazy employment practices on the part of DC. The problem with using copyright (or trademark) to solve these problems is that it creates what economists call “anti-commons” effects, where there are so many people who have the right to charge rent for the use of ideas or images, or to refuse to allow their use altogether, that creation is nearly impossible (what if Siegel and Shuster had needed the Toronto Star’s permission to lampoon it as the Daily Planet? What if they’d needed to get permission from Nietzsche’s heirs to use “Superman” as the name of their hero?).
There are a lot of ways of fixing the problem of exploitative labor practices in magazine and funnybook publishing, including more stringent definitions of Work Made For Hire (so that employers who want to acquire a total interest in their employees’ creations need to provide benefits, salary, and retirement plans), that will allow creators to earn a living wage and bank it accordingly so that their families will be taken care of after they’re gone, just as every other professional does.
But I don’t think that creating never-ending, impossible-to-clear tangles of rights to characters and creations is a good solution to this: DC should be able to unambiguously acquire the rights to Superman so that it can exploit them without worrying that far-flung descendants of the inkers, artists, writers or pencillers will come after them later for a slice of the pie; at the same time, the inkers, artists, writers and pencillers should be protected by statute and practice in a way that guarantees them a decent wage and the means to care for their families.
(Thanks, Xaviar!)
Update: Sven sez, “In Japan fan made versions of popular comics comics (mangas) are very commen and it is legal to sell a certain amount of copies. Very often those fan made comics are the beginning of a professional career.”