Discussion on Copyright with an Author
I posted a question on the duration of copyright on S.L. Veihl’s site. She seems to believe that copyright should be perpetual. I have a real problem with that. It may be because I’m not a writer, but I believe that a perpetual copyright would impovrish us all.
Take the Musical My Fair Lady. It was based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, which references the Greek legend of Pygmalion. In the Greek legend, a sculptor creates a statue so beautiful that he falls in love with it, a goddess gives the statue life so that the sculptor and the statue can live and love together. In sum, a creator falls in love with his creation.
Suppose copyright were perpetual. I’m not sure if Pygmalion was out of copyright when My Fair Lady was written. However, if copyright were perpetual, Shaw would never have been allowed to tell a story so clearly derivative of the Greek legend. For that matter, Shelly’s Frankenstein could be said to derive from the same legend (without the romantic elements of course). When does copyright quit quashing other stories?