Life in a Northern Town

I was reading a blog post this morning that utterly encapsulates why I think copyright law is completely broken and why, as a creator, it scares the crap out of me: sometimes the status quo strikes back.

Basically, DiMartino and Konietzko don't own the series. They don't own the characters, they don't own the storyline, they don't own the character designs, they don't own jack. It was work for hire, and the proof is in the fact that Nickelodeon has the copyright (and the trademark) all over the place.

Furthermore, on the Tokyopop version, it at least lists DiMartino and Konietzko as creators. None of the rest even mention them at all -- and now we're onto the comicified version of the movie, which has whots-his-face's name plastered there at the top... and again, no mention of DiMartino and Konietzko.

Now, I haven't actually seen the Avatar series (though I really do want to fix that, because people tell me it's awesome!). But from all I've heard, the creators are incredibly invested in it, and the world-building is lush and gorgeous.

But, thanks to our fantastically broken copyright laws, the people who created and wrote it, who've poured their blood, sweat and tears into it, don't own it -- they have no say in what happens to it, they can't take the characters and make a sequel or spin-off, it isn't theirs.

( More nattering about copyright )