I have strongly mixed feelings about this because:
1. I completely agree with you, art is changed as people change, and just because something is historic doesn't necessarily make it good or meaningful today (although nor does it make it meaningless).
2. Modern copyright law completely undermines point 1. If "we" are not allowed to change a thing because the right to change it is in the hands of a very small privileged group, then I wholeheartedly think the thing should be left the fuck alone.
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Basically - Want to rewrite that novel to use modern wording and sentiments? Go right ahead, but now that original work must be considered public domain.
Re: 2, why should someone recreating a work of their own invalidate their right to the original? I think current copyright laws are ridiculous, but within that framework why can’t a creator have two version of something they name the same thing at the same time?
While I’m not a fan of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, should the movie invalidate the copyright on the radio shows that invalidated the copyright on the books that invalidated the copyright of the original radio shows?
I have more concerns about companies sitting on works in a “vault” for decades. If a rightsholder isn’t making public a work they’ve been given exclusivity to to encourage developing collective culture, they should forfeit that right, IMHO.
On the other hand, if I was paid royalties for all of the code I have that’s still running somewhere on some system and generating revenue somewhere, I’d probably fight to keep that money coming in, too!
1. I completely agree with you, art is changed as people change, and just because something is historic doesn't necessarily make it good or meaningful today (although nor does it make it meaningless).
2. Modern copyright law completely undermines point 1. If "we" are not allowed to change a thing because the right to change it is in the hands of a very small privileged group, then I wholeheartedly think the thing should be left the fuck alone.
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Basically - Want to rewrite that novel to use modern wording and sentiments? Go right ahead, but now that original work must be considered public domain.
Otherwise... fuck right off.