Imagine someone buying the IP of the Mona Lisa and painting "sequels." The entire concept is preposterous.
IP is most often used to separate a work from its creator and allow vultures and thieves to profit from it without compensation. There are countless books, songs, and other works that haven been essentially stolen from their authors by legal fuckery. Go look up what happened to the author of Gravity for example, or the song Bitter Sweet Symphony.
A man can't sell his IP* any more than he could sell his wit, his verve, or his soul. All contracts to that effect shall be deemed null and void. The only person who can make more LotR is Tolkien, and he's dead. Rings of Power should be considered an act of cultural vandalism on par with sandblasting the Sistine chapel. If Star Wars is just a bunch of tropes like laser swords and space wizards, how can anyone "buy" that?
Imagine how much more lively and imaginative modern movies and TV would be if old works were essentially off limits for licensing (because the creator is dead) but also fair game for inspiration? How can anyone try to "own" dragons, elves, dwarves, etc.?
*Copyright is fine, since it covers the reproduction of a specific work, and not ownership of the concept or ideas behind it.
Imagine someone buying the IP of the Mona Lisa and painting "sequels." The entire concept is preposterous.
IP is most often used to separate a work from its creator and allow vultures and thieves to profit from it without compensation. There are countless books, songs, and other works that haven been essentially stolen from their authors by legal fuckery. Go look up what happened to the author of Gravity for example, or the song Bitter Sweet Symphony.
A man can't sell his IP* any more than he could sell his wit, his verve, or his soul. All contracts to that effect shall be deemed null and void. The only person who can make more LotR is Tolkien, and he's dead. Rings of Power should be considered an act of cultural vandalism on par with sandblasting the Sistine chapel. If Star Wars is just a bunch of tropes like laser swords and space wizards, how can anyone "buy" that?
Imagine how much more lively and imaginative modern movies and TV would be if old works were essentially off limits for licensing (because the creator is dead) but also fair game for inspiration? How can anyone try to "own" dragons, elves, dwarves, etc.?
*Copyright is fine, since it covers the reproduction of a specific work, and not ownership of the concept or ideas behind it.