21st-century editors should keep their hands off of 20th-century books

Re:21st-century editors should keep their hands off of 20th-... by saalweachter on Monday June 12, 2023 @05:42PM (#36301595)

I mean, that's what happens when you make copyright extend to 90 years past the death of the author. They and everyone they know dies, and the copyright still exists, and eventually it's a committee.

But it's all different committees. There's no Grand Woke High Committee dictating these changes to these works from the shadows. It's just capitalism, copyright law, and market forces.

Dr Seuss Enterprises is a private for-profit foundation established by the author's widow before her death, and while it's probably run by some sort of committee, it's a completely different committee than the board of directors at Netflix, and whatever VP heads up the Roald Dahl Story Company after its acquisition (I assume from the family, who were speaking for the company as recently as 2020).

So do we not allow the author or the author's family to set up foundations or sell their work to a corporation for half a billion dollars?

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Re:21st-century editors should keep their hands off of 20th-... by xg15 on Monday June 12, 2023 @05:49PM (#36301690)

Good points. Though I think the dynamics by which DEI dos and donts propagate should probably be explained better, because apparently they do invite the image of some shadowy committee.

I suppose groupthink is a more likely explanation though.

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