Francis Spufford has written a new Narnia novel: The Stone Table, set between the events of The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I’ve read it and it’s marvellous – unsurprisingly, since Spufford of one of the best writers working today. But you’ll have to take my word on that. CS Lewis’s work remains in copyright, so unless Spufford can come to some agreement with Lewis’s estate the earliest he’d be able to publish it is 2034.
I’m a writer myself, and appreciate the protection copyright law affords the small sums earned through my work. But how long after my death would it be right to maintain that protection? Back in 1998, the US Congress agreed to extend US copyright in a bill sponsored by Sonny Bono. Bono’s original proposal was that copyright should exist in perpetuity (so that his heirs going down to the crack of doom would all collect royalties from I Got You Babe). Nice for his heirs, bad news for wedding singers and buskers. But should we have to obtain permission from, and pay fees to, Shakespeare’s or Euripides’ heirs before staging performances of Hamlet or The Bacchae? In what sense have they earned that money?
Frankly, copyright law a bit of a mess. Much of the legislation dates from when making copies involved onerous labour with a printing press. Computers have utterly changed that. The internet is a vast machine for making copies. Plenty of campaigners follow Cory Doctorow in arguing copyright law is no longer fit for purpose, tending to protect the right of big corporations to profit while squeezing the creative expression of the little guy and gal.
One further complication is trademark law, a related yet distinct thing. Key Narnia terms have been trademarked, and since trademarks can be repeatedly renewed that might mean Narnia continues out of reach long after 2034. Trademark law was established to protect the commercial trading rights of products or services, and is legally bracketed under the subset of intellectual property known as “industrial property”. Copyright law, by comparison, was specifically set up to protect original literary, artistic and other creative works. Lots of literary, artistic and other creative works get trademarked, but since UK copyright lapses 70 years after the creator’s death this can come into conflict with copyright law. It’s an unresolved contradiction.
There’s another wrinkle: fan fiction. Tens of thousands of fans write fiction or create art set in their favourite universes and post the results online. Some – though by no means all – big copyright holders turn a blind eye to this, provided the work is not being published to make money. Technically, though, all fanfic writers are in breach of the law and could be prosecuted. At what point should writers be free to celebrate the worlds they love without lawyers breathing down their neck?
None of this helps Spufford right now. Like any writer of fanfic, no matter how accomplished, his only path to publication is with the consent of the estate. I for one will be keeping my fingers crossed.
