Disney paid $210MM to produce _Brave_, which money went not only to creatives, animators, and movie production types, but also to software developers, testers, devops teams, and network administrators.
And nobody is now allowed to create any derivative work to benefit society for the next ~200 years (or perpetually, if Disney has their way).
Ironic, since virtually all of Disney's works are based on public domain works that they themselves would be banned from using if their bought laws had existed then.
I agree that Disney should receive copyright protection on its new works. My complaint (and I assume the parent's) is the part where they keep that copyright indefinitely through retroactive extensions. It's not supposed to be a permanent rent, regardless of what they do with the money.
Brave was an exception, or a turning point depending on how you see their later releases.
A large number of Disney works have been "inspired by" other works. I'd estimate just under half, but this changes with every release. They do seem to be getting more original, but that seems to be mainly due to the Pixar team.
The quote below was from 2002 when there were a total of ~45 Disney animated feature films.
"a total of 28 films that have acknowledged sources outside of The Walt Disney Company itself, more than half of all the movies they've made to date."[1]
Because Intellectual Property is fundamentally different from Physical Property?
Society grants IP rights as an exchange. Exclusive access granted for a period of time to allow people to profit from their work - then it goes public domain so that society is enriched in turn.
You are right, they didn't spend a cent on lobbying to protect Brave. They'd already bought and paid for their extensions across all their works already, now and into the future. Pretty good investment that.
