Sponsored by Skillshare What was the first thing you did in 2024? For some, it was uploading a copy of Steamboat Willie You see, to prevent this film from entering the public domain Disney had *twice* lobbied the US Congress into Extend the length of copyright protection That's why, when it enters the public domain earlier this year People rushed to celebrate its liberation Finally, everyone is free to remix This important piece of film history Clearly, the Internet is sick of the copyright system Particularly, corporate-controlled copyright Many of us still remember that time When Disney threatened to sue daycare centers For displaying murals of Mickey and pals It's not a stretch to say that, today, corporations have control Over nearly every bit of our pop culture But things weren't always like this Back in a more innocent time, the world was bigger Copyright infringement was not only common But international, colorful And sometimes beloved by audiences It was a different time, with different movies And today, I want to take a look at it Let's see why these knock-off films were loved And discuss the strange upside Of worldwide copyright infringement [ Part One] Supposedly, Hong Kong schlockmeister Wong Jing Was a big fan of the Street Fighter games Hence why, when making City Hunter, he went And acquired the official character licenses, just for a gag He was hoping he could use this opportunity To launch an official adaptation down the line But Hollywood bought the film right before he could Resulted in the JCVD masterpiece instead Unsatisfied with the outcome Wong Jing decides to just... do it anyway So, he changed E.Honda to the legally distinct Toyota And that's how Future Cops, a knock-off movie Became a childhood favorite of many Chinese kids Indeed, throughout the late 20th century Japan was the king of cultural influence in East Asia Conscious or not, people from surrounding nations Looked on with envy, wishing that they could compete This mentality is partly the reason why Infra-Man was made It was Hong Kong's attempt at making Kaman Rider / Ultraman The same influence also resulted in the legally dubious Thailand Ultraman As well as South Korea's Robot Taekwon V A knock-off of Mazinger Z, made to circumvent The Japanese product ban at the time When talking about international copyright infringement I immediately think about Turkish Star Wars A Turkish fantasy action film with footage and music Lifted directly from Lucas Arts movies Less known but no less infringing is Turkish Star Trek Which... looks colorful and well-made Turkey was a big player in the copyright infringement genre Producing films with amazing production value With extremely limited budgets The badly deteriorated film print gave the Internet An unflattering impression of Turkish Star Wars But back in their day, these were glorious mockbusters Adored by the Turkish audience Here we have Filipino Batman And it is a musical comedy Oh f*ck it's looping in my head again Batman spoof is kinda a tradition in the Philippines, it seems This is not the first (not even the second or even third) Unlicensed Batman movie made in the country In fact, unlicensed superhero movies Were incredibly common around the world Mexican Batwoman is a classic But there's also multiple versions of Indian Superman The best use of the character, however Isn't even from a Superman movie But merely a song and dance sequence Borrowing Superman for comedic effects While Japan was being copied Its anime industry does its share of infringement as well Lupin III made use of the name Arsene Lupin without permission As Japan did not enforce trade copyrights for a time And who can forget Dragon Ball Z Which blatantly rips off Superman's backstory Not to mention, whatever this is "I think Ridley Scott is gonna sue somebody" "What are you talking ab-bababababab" Finally, Italy was another big contributor to this genre The Last Shark, as an example, is a straight remake of Jaws But the biggest one is, of course Italian Yojimbo Don't think I need to explain this one This was how copyright worked for much of history Before the Internet, the reach of copyright was limited Beyond that limit, opportunistic and daring artists Could carve out their own little space For better or for worse Regardless of your opinion on this phenomenon There is no denying that many love the movies I mentioned Despite the dubious legality and morality It seems a part of us are willing to look past copyright infringement So, what if... We actually do that? [ Sponsor ] Lately, I've been getting back into writing Mainly a screenplay, hoping to get it produced It has been a while since I last dabbled in fiction, however And I need to shake off the rust That's why I've been following this class "Get Ready to Write" on Skillshare Ah yes, it has been a while, let's do a refresher Skillshare is an online learning community for creative minds From illustration to graphic design, from photography to filmmaking Skillshare's collection of classes helps you explore your creativity And hone your skills as a professional The class I'm following, by novelist Kathleen Barber Teaches you how to develop a logline and a roadmap Breaking down a massive writing project into manageable parts So you can start writing as soon as possible If you'd like to learn like me, the first 500 people to use my link Will get a 1-month free trial of Skillshare Once you are set, why not explore a few Learning Paths? These are curated sets of classes That can take you from beginner to advanced in one fell swoop Sticking with the topic of writing Here is a learning path about writing memorable characters Offering me multiple perspectives and techniques On something I'm not too confident in Want to start a new hobby, or become a pro in 2024? Skillshare is the community for you! [ Part Two ] I know, it's very suspect for a Chinese dude To be publically "defending" plagiarism Especially in light of recent YouTube events But before you crucify me Let's consider the opposite end of the spectrum Where copyright lasts forever Using an example raised by the patron saint Of YouTubers, Tom Scott: Perpetual copyright means an individual or a corporation Would have the final say as to how Shakespeare is interpreted As well as who gets to represent it "To be or not to be..." "Not to be." Small community theaters for young actors Like the excellent "Shakespeare in the Park" here in Montreal Would not exist It gives power to the ones who already hold power And stifles the emergence of new talent and new culture My point is, just as Shakespeare should be free I think there should also be a corner Beyond the reach of Disney Where children can draw Mickey Mouse and show it to the world Now, some of you may be wondering Well, if Shakespeare isn't available Why not make something wholly original? If you went to art school, you'll probably be familiar with the phrase: "Everything is a remix" *Mimesis* is the philosophical concept that seeks to explain How arts and culture are created To put it simply, humanity's creativity Is fundamentally a form of mimicry We learn languages, drawings, acting, by imitating others And everything we create must be derived from something The highest form of art, as proposed by Plato Is the form least removed from the "Platonic Ideal" A direct imitation of nature But not all artists, especially not beginners Are capable of doing such Think back to the beginning of our artistic journey How often do we practice by mimicking someone else's work? How long did it take for us to cross that threshold Until our craft can be considered original? Thus, copyright protection is a balancing act It must allow enough resources For emerging talents to build upon While also protect the creation of existing artists Collectively, our society has determined that Things like ideas and styles cannot be copyrighted Those are fair to use by everyone White House Down is just Die Hard in the White House But it is a different way to mimic the same idea Thus, we consider it fair Yet, to me, the distinction between fair and unfair Was merely a matter of degree Some of the lesser legal infringements Still feel fair enough to be loved This "fairness" is I'm interested in [ Part Three ] In 1907, French author Maurice Leblanc Released a short story collection, which contains a story called "Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late" In this story, Leblanc pitted his gentleman thief Arsene Against famous detective Sherlock Holmes And outwitting him at the end The entire shtick was unlicensed Arthur Conan Doyle's lawyer protested So Leblanc renamed him Herlock Sholmes In a sense, Leblanc stole Sherlock And I thought it was the funniest thing You see, Leblanc and his gentleman thief genre Is oddly a great guide on how to be fair While committing intellectual property theft Hear me out: #1: Announce your thievery Just as Arscene sends out a calling card beforehand The most fair movies also make themselves abundantly clear From whom they stole from For these works, stealing isn't a shortcut for profit Rather, the act of stealing itself is the entertainment There's no original alternative to this kind of creations The joke is about stealing Without stealing, there is no joke #2: Steal from the rich We celebrate the freeing of Willie Because we like to stick it to the man But it's not just big companies It's also the cultural relevancy The reason there are so many "alternate Superman" out there Is because, by this point, Superman is like Sherlock He is so well-known and well-established He feels like he should be in the public domain already There is practically zero risk of your work Doing any damage to Superman Stealing is like comedy, it's only funny When you are punching up Speaking of which #3: Have a sense of humor Steal it for the "LOL"s "I can't breath in this thing" Taking something for the sake of parody is, as far as I know Entirely legal in the US - "I love you in Wall Street"
- "I love you in Wall Street" (# Not Legal Advice) Indeed, if you think of this as a prank Then it is only successful if your *audience* thinks it is funny A gentleman thief steals for the poor Stealing for personal gain is not seen as fair #4: Steal, not rob A gentleman thief only takes the gem, not the entire life-saving Stealing an idea is perfectly legal Stealing a character is not But it's more fair than stealing the entire story That's what fan films often are Take a beloved character, and make your own stories around it Steal only the bits you need And use that to express your own voice Not all the films we list today have all of these qualities And sometimes, a film is just loved anyway The point is, our sense of fairness varies across people And it differs from our current copyright law It's copyright infringement to use this photo for memes Yet it feels like it should be part of pop culture Freely accessible by individuals It is now okay to remix Steamboat Willie Yet we still have to tread so carefully Because Mickey Mouse is a trademark The line between borrowing and stealing Between acceptable and unacceptable Is never as clear-cut What we assumed to be fair May only feel that way because it is the status quote [ Afterword ] Of course, I'm not a lawyer And I'm not smart enough to offer a solution all on my own But before we call it quit Let's talk about one last thing: H.P. Lovecraft Throughout much of his life Fame horror writer H.P. Lovecraft cared little about copyright He frequently encouraged his peers to borrow from his work Allowing them to contribute to his mythos Resulting in loads of Lovecraftian stories written not by Lovecraft It sounds like a copyright nightmare A poor writer without influence Having his brilliant works out in the open For anyone to copy and steal Yet, despite all that His works have remained influential in the past hundred years In fact, his creation persisted Likely because other writers keep on feeding it new materials The fear of his name being erased by copycats Didn't actually happen Every time I think about this story I can't help but imagine an alternate system In this alternate world, artists are supported We are free of financial worries We can publish our writings for passion rather than money And James Somerton would cite his sources In this world, stories come to life Contributed by everyone, like folk tales of old The most enduring The most beloved form of creation That's not so bad, is it?
