The Subsistence of Copyright in Dynamic Creations: A Proposal for the Fusion of Works

The fictitious world has become increasingly dynamic, with creative works being continuously expanded by sequels, spin-offs and supplementary material. Modern franchises such as Marvel and Star Trek describe an ever-growing and changing universe developed through numerous films, television programs, video games and books, where each entry forms part of the same overall creation. Despite this interrelationship between different creations, the law of copyright has been slow to acknowledge the interconnectivity of modern works and possesses no mechanism to protect the evolving creation. Characters and fictional worlds are constantly annexed with new information and are being continuously written to the extent they may be unrecognisable from their first appearance. However, it is questionable whether the current approach to the protection of these creations under copyright is adequate. This thesis adopts a hybridised methodical approach utilising doctrinal analysis and comparative legal research to assess the protection of dynamic works in the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. These systems are critiqued for their ability to protect creations such as the fictional universe and the evolving character for their full creative value, and from this, a new theory of copyright is developed. This thesis ultimately proposes that copyright can be reimagined as a living right that grows alongside a creation as it is further developed over time. In the case of universes such as Star Trek, it is argued that the accumulation of all entries in the canon fuses to form a single overarching copyright that is continuously expanded by new material. Similarly, the characters that change over time are protected for their entire evolution throughout the works in which they appear. As new material is added to a copyrightable work, these additions merely fuse to the existing right, allowing for a new and expansive form of copyright that protects the creative expression developed between works.