What’s your plan for supporting the people who made those works if nothing they do in their later life ever reaches the size of that one big hit that they would have been earning money off of?
Is 20 years of earnings not enough? If they can no longer produce any other works or if their new work is culturally significant but not monetarily rewarding then it's a safety net issue, not a public domain issue.
If they have the ability to create something like Star Wars, my own personal plan is that they don't sit on their ass for twenty+ years reaping the benefits of a single achievement.
Really, given all the need there is in the world, this is a genuine concern of yours?
EDIT: And I should also note, the people who actually created the film are not the ones who reap those benefits for twenty+ years. It's only the people who control the IP.
I’m an artist, I made something ten years ago that has continued to sell better than anything else I’ve done. It is nowhere near Star Wars big but it is the creative equivalent of a “lifestyle business”. This is, indeed, a genuine concern of mine that affects my own finances.
Well the argument is that you can enjoy the financial benefit of your creation for only twenty years, and while I understand why you would disagree, I still think that is fair.
I suppose I still think you're an entitled asshole, then, unless you are also working hard to make a world where everyone doesn't have to come up with money for rent and groceries on a constant basis. Fair enough.
I doubt this body has more than about sixty years in it at best, but I would certainly like to be able to continue to make money off of it while I'm still alive. Especially if my body starts to fall apart to the point where I can no longer make new work.
I don't have a plan for it because I don't care to solve that situation. The individual can figure out their own financial situation.
I don't know why you'd expect me to have (or care to have) some additional safety net for these entities, when my whole premise is that they should be losing exclusive access.
If they really want, they can continue to make stuff using that public domained IP. You realise they can do that right? If marvel became public domain, disney would still be the people outputting the vast majority of "high quality" marvel content*
It just means that joe bloggs can use the work too, without having to impoverish himself or work for free.
Or, you know, they can make something new. Or go get a job like everyone else. I really don't care.
