Good stuff, all.
...utopian visions of a copyright-less future or of "cultural ownership" of icons because, um, well, we don't want the heirs of their creators who still use them as trademarks to make money on them...they're begging for disaster."
"Yes.. because.. artists should not be able to make any money off their works."
"As an aspiring author, yes, I'd like to keep the ability to make money off of it. Thanks."
Well naturally you do. But be careful not to fall into the straw-man fallacy of false attribution. I stated that we need to move into a post-copyright world. It does not necessarily follow that a creator will not be rewarded for his or her hard work in this environment, so please do not attribute any such sentiment to me, or imply that I believe the Ideal would require that. I believe the 'net immediately makes every published idea de facto public domain. Our challenge is to ensure proper repayment within this new environment.
"Copyright in it's modern form though, is kinda stupid."
I prefer outdated, but yes.
"Before Star Wars, George Lucas was a nobody."
In this case, I'm referring to 20th Century Fox (although Lucas earns no points from me for failing to cite his influence.) At the time Lucas was writing ('75-'76), DC aka National Periodicals was being acquired by Warner Bros., but was not yet a part of the Time-Warner juggernaut.
"You might want to check up on Joseph Campbell's collected works, especially Hero With A Thousand Faces. "
Yup yup! Right here on my shelf alongside Power of Myth, both well worn. Highly recommended.
"50 Shades of Grey has all but made me give up on writing."
Don't. There's an enormous dfference between successful writing and good writing. Success is great, but if you're writing for "success," you're honestly in it for the wrong reasons. Don't measure your work against 50, Twilight, Left Behind, or any number of penny-dreadfuls that win commercial success today, and are forgotten or paraded as camp a decade from now.
"When should they legally become part of the culture at large and not just property? Because they already have become a part of it a long time ago...?"
See, now that is an excellent question. You get it. Allow me to try to craft a better one...
We live in an age where the message (a song, cinema, a story, a picture, a computer game) has escaped from the media (CD, film, book, canvas or cartridge) and exists as infinitely reproducible pure information. This has led to theft (piracy) on the audience's part, and a misguided belief that all entertainment should be free. (Emphasis to rebut the false attribution.)
On the producer's side, we have big, powerful corporations that steal (rip-off) artists' work with relative impunity. They even steal from each other.
The small, independent artist, who in my opinion is the real creative vitality, is caught between these titanic forces, relatively powerless against infringement.
Is this the culture we want? What kind of culture do we want? What kind of copyright laws will best cultivate the culture we want?