Is it possible in the US to buy the rights to a persons “intellectual property” completely. Like say I brought “1984” from the current publisher or the author himself (hypothetically speaking) and I had the indisputable ability to do whatever I want with it according to the agreement of the sale. Like say publish the work on the web for free without the chance of legal action. In other words, I basically am treated like the author even if I did not author the work.
To make it clear I do not for the most part agree with IP law, I was just curious.
Yeah you can. Although most of the time only some “rights” are sold while others are retained. A great example is the major DC Comics heroes. The copyright history of Superman and the associated storyline and characters is pretty educational on the subject. And that history there still doesn’t include everything. If you watch the original 1978 Superman movie, you’ll notice it as a “Ilya and Alexander Salkind” production. (Not Warner Bros.) That’s because at that point in time, Alexander owned the rights. And there’s a whole history there, of that transition to WB gaining ownership.
Yeah, and obviously music and film being the biggest examples of what kind of mess it can be. Reading the history of any major band who didn’t play by the rules shows some problems between the band and label, and even between the band mates and who’s really getting paid what under the band name. So-and-So band may have wrote the music, and their idea and name on it, but how much they actually own it (in a way, in debt to a label) can be questionable. Of course, who owns the music (or rights of) of Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, or Joe Strummer? Clearly not them anymore.
Yes, franchices and popular music are a mess in terms of IP. Even Miracleman had a really tragic and stupid IP ruling which prevented it from finishing. But what about those works that are “singular” for lack of a better term. Like say an obscure work like those that can be found in libertarian circles. A conspiracy book on JFK that never took off for example.
Basically, the reason I’m asking is because I have this pipe dream (sort of like Anemome and his seasteading) about buying the rights to works and allowing for free download or viewing via my website. Even allowing others to distribute the works themselves however they please unless they try to claim ownership of the material. When I think about it though, I wonder how complex even getting the rights to super obscure material can be.
What they are doing is each month, they are buying the rights to out of print/obscure Science Fiction books and releasing a digital copy. Reminded me a lot of what the Mises Institute does with economics books.