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I read an article today that included a reference to another law review article which argued that it's good that Superman is the intellectual property of a single corporation motivated to keep his image pristine, because otherwise there would be a lot of pornography featuring Superman.
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I like my ivory tower better. Mine is much better stocked with porn.
I have deep theoretical thoughts about the broader issue -- what I call the J. Geils "My Angel Is a Centerfold" problem of people who suffer when their beloved icons are reworked without their consent, and how that should count when we're assessing how much freedom later authors should have to rework characters and situations -- which I will try to write up on my aca-blog. I think of such people as "utility monsters" in the Nozickian sense, because they gain utility by denying it to others (or, they are hurt by other people getting things those others want) -- but perhaps I am being unfair. (Short definition of utility monsters here.)
At least I was able to suggest some sources for the primary article's very casual discussion of Batman, which made the point that corporate ownership hardly ensures preservation of a single original vision of a character. Will Brooker's excellent Batman Unmasked, of course, and Geoff Klock's How to Read Superhero Comics and Why, which I'm enjoying reading, though so far its argument does not seem to justify the title.
...
I like my ivory tower better. Mine is much better stocked with porn.
I have deep theoretical thoughts about the broader issue -- what I call the J. Geils "My Angel Is a Centerfold" problem of people who suffer when their beloved icons are reworked without their consent, and how that should count when we're assessing how much freedom later authors should have to rework characters and situations -- which I will try to write up on my aca-blog. I think of such people as "utility monsters" in the Nozickian sense, because they gain utility by denying it to others (or, they are hurt by other people getting things those others want) -- but perhaps I am being unfair. (Short definition of utility monsters here.)
At least I was able to suggest some sources for the primary article's very casual discussion of Batman, which made the point that corporate ownership hardly ensures preservation of a single original vision of a character. Will Brooker's excellent Batman Unmasked, of course, and Geoff Klock's How to Read Superhero Comics and Why, which I'm enjoying reading, though so far its argument does not seem to justify the title.
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Pristine is boring anyway.
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Unless I'm looking in the wrong place, I can't manage to find a link to your aca-blog. Do you mind giving me the URL? I find this to be a really intersting topic.
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Uh... right. Whatever they say. Definitely pristine.
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but we do have a lot of porn?!?!?
does this magazine where you got that articel from even do some research???
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Oh, thank heaven there's a corporation to save us from the Superporn! I feel so much safer now. [Carefully hides link to the SSA.]
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I think actually, that it's a measure of the popularity of a character or universe when they are 'borrowed' by other or later writers. And sometimes, something gets big enough that it sort of 'belongs' to the world, not just to the author anymore.
If there's only one version, or one vision, of this character out there, I think creativity stifles and interest in it wanes.
OTOH, I find it more of a copyright infringement to base fanfiction on books than a corporately owned character or a TV show.
*shrugs*
Mary Ann
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nysick = surreul
but nyscik shall from now on be purely rl and so not very interesting and is defriending everything fandom related while surreul is adding. er, this is probably confusing and pointless but i'm trying to let everyone on my friends list know because it feels polite
and yes, it is definetly important to be well stocked with porn...