Just back from Rogue One. There is a lot of potential set material there, that Lego hasn't tapped into yet. There is even a ship that plays a larger part in the movie then some ships that made it into sets.
(And I must say, boy, did Lego did a magnificent job in recreating the ships into models.)
Adapting public domain so you claim copyright is unethical and is a consequence of poor legislation partly a result of intense lobbying by Disney themselves. Anyway, I don't want to derail this thread any further. Watch this video if you want to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk862BbjWx4
I am sorry I am coming back to this, but I have a hard time letting misinformation slip by.
That video is quite a load of bullocks, pardon-me my French. It presents some facts about copyright laws, and an
opinion about them (that's okay offcourse, you don't have to agree with how copyright works) and then a a lot of misinformation, insinuation and straight up lies.
Yes, Copyright at the moment is protected until 70 or 75 years after the death of the author (depending on where you're based) and in the UK and US, it's usually managed by companies (as authors often sell their rights for a hefty fee when creating a work. It's different where I'm from, my copyright is inalienable in mainland Europe. I can only sell, among other things, the right to adapt, to produce, etc). If you don't agree with this. Fine. You don't have to. At the moment it is the way it is. Laws change, and it is not because a law from 300 years ago sais copyright is protected 28 years after publication date, that has to still be the case today. If laws aren't allowed to change, I don't want to know what punishments we would still deal out to thiefs.
So no. Disney does not
steal the copyright on public works, and it is a straight out lie of this video to imply it. Yes, they adapt public works and they have copyright on that adaptation. They have the right on how their characters look, they have the right on the specific script of their films, the music, the direction, etc. They do NOT have the right on the publik work. You can still adapt Snow White if you want to. You can still publish the original fairy tale. They didn't steal anything. They created based upon an existing work, and have the rights to their creation.
You can still make Alice in Wonderland movies, books or games or whatever, to take the example of the video. You just can't lift any of the adaptive elements Disney brought into their version. (So you can't make an animated sequel with the exact same character designs). The video implies that is stealing from public domain. It is absolutely not.
And let me give another example the video taps into. If Star Wars was public domain now, and you would have made Rogue One. The story of Rogue One, the new characters you created, etc would all be copyrighted under you. But I would still be able to make a Star Wars-movie, even one about stealing Death Star-plans. As long as I don't blatently steal ideas from your work. It's the same thing Disney does with fairy tales
)
