Why should they depend on copyright to force the market to value their content over that of potential competition?
People could still prefer J.K. Rowlings' Harry Potter even if it wasn't illegal for other people to write Harry Potter fiction, the books and movies could still make money on name recognition alone. But if someone did come along and write a better version of Harry Potter that became more popular, wouldn't they deserve to profit as well?
Why should Disney be able to do that with a thousand years' of fairy tale mythology, but no one else be able to with modern mythology like Star Wars? Having cultural expression so inextricably locked up by corporations is not healthy. And yes, it might devalue the individual in the marketplace, but everyone suffers that fate now, regardless of their field.
Why go through the trouble of writing a better Harry Potter? You could simply take the existing story and sell it yourself - or put it on the internet so that no one needs to buy it at all.
I agree that it might be beneficial for society if all media were available for free and I agree copyright is probably not the right tool, but that's why said more thoughts effort needs to be spent to find better alternatives.
In the 19th century, America didn't respect British copyright. And Charles Dickens was the most popular writer in the US and was printed there without paying Dickens a cent. So how did Dickens handle this? By going on tour in the US. People paid money to see him recite his works much like music concerts. In fact, this is how most professional musicians make money today in the post physical album world. They don't make much money off their music directly but rather the music serves as advertisements for their live shows.
> the books and movies could still make money on name recognition alone.
Books, maybe. But without copyright, what keeps movie studios from just turning J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books into movies without paying her anything?
Nothing, but there is a business advantage to having an author and their fans support your work rather than turn them against it, so if J.K. Rowling refused to do that without getting paid, she still has leverage regardless of copyright.
My argument here is that part of the intrinsic value of a creative work is in the author or team behind it, and that doesn't necessarily need the force of law to back it up.
Look at doujin culture in Japan. People create derivative (mostly pornographic) works using established properties and characters, but the originals still retain their value. It's technically illegal, but it's still permitted as authors consider doujins free advertising and a way for new talent to showcase their work.
People could still prefer J.K. Rowlings' Harry Potter even if it wasn't illegal for other people to write Harry Potter fiction, the books and movies could still make money on name recognition alone. But if someone did come along and write a better version of Harry Potter that became more popular, wouldn't they deserve to profit as well?
Why should Disney be able to do that with a thousand years' of fairy tale mythology, but no one else be able to with modern mythology like Star Wars? Having cultural expression so inextricably locked up by corporations is not healthy. And yes, it might devalue the individual in the marketplace, but everyone suffers that fate now, regardless of their field.