Should Star Wars and Star Trek belong in the public domain?

[Yukaphile]

I mean, the title says it all. My feeling is... yes, they should.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

To say that if Disney dies then Star Wars dies is vanity, can you feel that?

[clearspira]

Be honest, you only want that so you can bring back the EU.

[Actarus]

It would be more interesting if you said why you think these two franchises out of all the others should be in the public domain in the first place.

[Cassandra]

Copyright is far, far too long for everything. Rights for cultural properties ought to expire after 50 years at most, which would make TOS public domain but not yet the rest of Trek.

[Robovski]

Copyright is far, far too long for everything. Rights for cultural properties ought to expire after 50 years at most, which would make TOS public domain but not yet the rest of Trek.

I agree with this. Copyright has a purpose, but it is currently excessively long and it's hurting our culture. 50 years feels fair.

[Actarus]

Copyright is far, far too long for everything. Rights for cultural properties ought to expire after 50 years at most, which would make TOS public domain but not yet the rest of Trek.

I don't agree. Fifty years after creation would mean that an author could loose all rights on his works during his lifetime. That's not right.

[SabreMau]

It also depends on what, exactly, this would entail. Does this mean merely the video of the actual episodes would be public domain, so you could upload the broadcast episodes anywhere you wanted for free, or does it include the characters as well, so all of those TOS fan films could operate openly without CBS being able to interfere? It's not like they stopped using the characters, they had Spock-played-by-Leonard-Nimoy on screen as late as 2013.

[Yukaphile]

Well, I think letting a corporation have a right to extend copyright is just criminal. Disney is never going to let go of the Star Wars copyright now they have it. And whoever owns Star Trek in 2100 will never let go of it either as it passes hands, slowly shifting and mutating into something that's an inconsistent, poorly written mess. And these two franchises are so huge, the fans could do a better job with the stories. I know. I've seen fanfiction that feels more true to the spirit of the creators and the pinnacle of their success than what they're doing these days. Now it's just about squeezing every last buck out of 'em. It's not about the creativity or art or imagination. I want it stopped. And yes, that means people could work on Legends properties as well as the new EU. Don't wanna deny that to people. I just want the corporate greed raping our childhoods to FUCKING STOP.

[Actarus]

Well, of course they won't let it go. And they won't let go the rights to Spider-Man either. Because Marvel would not have let them go either. They will make good things with Star Wars and bad things. And people, one day, will stop to show any interest in them. It's just the way of things. We are lucky that it lasted this long.

As for the fans doing better stuff, well maybe. But with the fandom so hooked up on "canon" and "continuity" (like you) it would be hard to keep a unified timeline with hundreds of fans writing their fanfics...

Oh, and about "raping your childhood." Maybe you should just grow out of it. The fun you had as a child while watching the OT or reading EU novels cannot be touched by the new material made by Disney. You don't like the new Star Wars? Then don't watch them and stop bothering about them. Big deal. There's a lot of other interesting stuff to enjoy out there. And the old movies and books will still be there when you are feeling a pang of nostalgia.