Why Do Content Creators Get Control Over Derivative Works?
Doug Lichtman’s latest IP Colloquium takes on the question of derivative works, mainly discussing the infamous Harry Potter Lexicon reference guide that a judge recently barred from publication. In the program, Lichtman talks with the General Counsel of Warner Bros. studios, Jeremy Williams, and Anthony Falzone from Stanford’s Fair Use Project. Unless you’re really into some of the very very narrow details of copyright law (such as the differences between the various sections in copyright law), much of the discussion may not be that interesting. There were a couple of things worth noting, however. I tended to think that Williams’ views on fan fiction made a lot of sense — where he basically said that studios recognize that it’s a bad idea to stop fan fiction, and that the studios have to learn to let go of trying to control everything. I was actually quite surprised that Lichtman pushed back on this point, with an argument that, to me, makes little sense: suggesting that if an artist
