Official canon became meaningless once corporations, with no connection to the original creators, gained the rights to declare it. Official canon only made sense when it was the creator saying that one thing "happened," vs something else was just "for fun." Now it's a corporate hegemony trying to decide what stories matter for the whole world.
I'm not an anti-capitalist by any means, but I am disturbed to see pieces of culture commodified into mere products. I don't simply mean selling art; I believe that it is the purview of an artist to sell their work to make a living. Rather, I mean the monopoly rights of corporations to have total control of cultural icons. Even the language that we use commodifies our culture. The word "franchise" used to conjure thoughts of McDonald's restaurants.
I strongly believe that the cultural icons of: Superman, Batman, Luke Skywalker, James Kirk, Indiana Jones, etc, are greater than any corporate property. They have been referenced, lauded, and parodied across all artistic media. They represent the heroism and virtue that we should all aspire to in our own daily lives. Their impact is not substantially different from characters like: Dracula, Robin Hood, Cinderella, and King Arthur,. Stories are at the heart of our humanity. Every religion understands it; the modern psychotherapists, like Jung, understood it. It is unnatural for stories and characters to be for the exclusive use of one individual or group.
Copyright, like patent law, has long been seen as a necessary evil; a restriction on the free market, in exchange for fostering creativity and innovation. Now, it has become a tool to do the opposite. In fact, many of these characters are owned by entities that mean to destroy them. Copyright law is in dire need of reform, and if that cannot be accomplished; it would be better off abolished.
Official canon became meaningless once corporations, with no connection to the original creators, gained the rights to declare it. Official canon only made sense when it was the creator saying that one thing "happened," vs something else was just "for fun." Now it's a corporate hegemony trying to decide what stories matter for the whole world.
I'm not an anti-capitalist by any means, but I am disturbed to see pieces of culture commodified into mere products. I don't simply mean selling art; I believe that it is the purview of an artist to sell their work to make a living. Rather, I mean the monopoly rights of corporations to have total control of cultural icons. Even the language that we use commodifies our culture. The word "franchise" used to conjure thoughts of McDonald's restaurants.
I strongly believe that the cultural icons of: Superman, Batman, Luke Skywalker, James Kirk, Indiana Jones, etc, are greater than any corporate property. They have been referenced, lauded, and parodied across all artistic media. They represent the heroism and virtue that we should all aspire to in our own daily lives. Their impact is not substantially different from characters like: Dracula, Robin Hood, Cinderella, and King Arthur,. Stories are at the heart of our humanity. Every religion understands it; the modern psychotherapists, like Jung, understood it. It is unnatural for stories and characters to be for the exclusive use of one individual or group.
Copyright, like patent law, has long been seen as a necessary evil; a restriction on the free market, in exchange for fostering creativity and innovation. Now, it has become a tool to do the opposite. In fact, many of these characters are owned by entities that mean to destroy them. Copyright law is in dire need of reform, and if that cannot be accomplished; it would be better off abolished.