Copyright doesn’t stifle creativity, it encourages it. Lack of protection is what stifles it because people just steal your stuff rather than create their own.
Again, copyright for fiction is a
lot more recent than fiction itself. It's demonstrably false that people wouldn't make up stories if copyright didn't exist, because that describes the vast majority of human civilization.
I also think it's naive as hell to think money is the only thing that motivates creative output, but that's just me.
And phrases like “pitiful work” and “if you can’t keep cranking out equally popular stuff, then don’t be a writer” I find full of contempt, and tells me a lot about the person making them. Especially if the person never had success themselves. Jealousy. And greed.
Oh yes, now this on the other hand, sure. People should be able to make a living on their artistic endeavors for a good long while. I'm not even sure I'd argue against "life of the author" (and maybe even a plus one for the family because dying in this day and age is stupidly expensive). Shakespeare got to get paid, son (and in a time where he didn't have copyright protections, either! Imagine that!)
But it's also, again, inarguable that copyright does stifle creativity. I mean, I guess you
can argue against it, but you'd be wrong. Why?
There’s a whole lot of selfish entitlement for someone to argue they should profit off of someone else’s work after X amount of time. Create your own stuff.
Because there is nothing new under the sun. Vast swathes of our popular culture were not the product of
genesis but rather of
synthesis. Stories don't spring forth fully formed from the forehead of Zeus. They are, by and large, the product of other stories. The Disney Canon. Most of Shakespeare's works. Star Wars.
See, no one's arguing you should be able to copy a work whole cloth and start selling it yourself as your own work. But where copyright gets overzealous is in the way stories that exist within it can be used in the process of synthesizing new works. The vast universe of Star Wars or Star Trek inspire you to tell your own story, even with your own unique characters, personal contributions to the worldbuilding? Sucks to your assmar, Piggy, that's "fan fiction", and you're not allowed to profit from
your creative output, because it shares one particular aspect with somebody else's. File all the serial numbers off, make a few tweaks to it? Nope, you're still liable bub.
Even if you could make a really good case, and even if the people suing you
believe you, they still
have to sue you. That's how current copyright law really screws with creative development. Why do they have to take your ass to court? Because otherwise they could be seen as not actively protecting their copyright, and then
poof, it disappears. It's why you can't name your video game
Scrolls without Bethesda sending a C&D. It's why you don't really see laser swords in a lot of things, in spite of laser swords being objectively awesome. And here's the thing... even fighting a completely baseless and frivolous lawsuit
is expensive as heck. So even if Joe the Plumber has never even heard of a Star War before, if his debut novel has laser swords and telekinesis in it, he's going to get a letter from Disney, and odds are, he's not going to be able to afford to fight it.
And this kind of thing is happening
all the damn time. And if you think that's
good for creativity? For the enrichment of popular culture? Well, you're wrong.
