Intellectual property is a non-issue in WALL-E. There is only one brand even mentioned in the whole movie, that being Buy N Large. In the film BNL seems to be the world government, we can use the chapter on intellectual property to discuss two methods by which current day companies keep a stranglehold on the market: digital media and protecting intellectual property. We will also discuss how open source projects can help disrupt this control.

Companies like Universal Music Group are notorious for using the Digital Millenium Copyright Act as a weapon, the conversion of a protective law into an offensive tool has been noted all across social media platforms [1]. The way the law is implemented, holding the platform owners accountable for any violation, creates incentives to censor and take down any content that could even possibly be taken as a violation of copyright law. This technique has even extended to protests, counter-protesters have blasted copyrighted music so that footage of the protest cannot be posted online [2]. The DMCA was written at a time before the internet had taken more than a few baby steps and needs to be changed as it stifles online innovation and artistic expression. 

According to the Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge the drug patent system has been transformed into  “... a defensive business strategy to avoid competition in order to earn outsized profits on medicines for many years beyond what was intended.” [3] This is done by changing small things about the drug, like dosage or slight changes to the molecule, which allows the patent holder to extend their ownership of the drug and keep prices high by preventing generic drugs from being made. Another example of how powerful corporations can use this system to their benefit is with Disney. When Steamboat Willie, the debut of Micky Mouse, was released the copyright term was 56 years. In 1976, 8 years before the expiration date of 1984, the Disney Corporation successfully lobbied to have the copyright extended another 20 years to 2003. Yet again in 1998, 5 years before their copyright would again expire, they lobbied another bill into law that extended it another 20 years. The bill is conspicuously more generous to corporations: “copyrights for works created on or after January 1, 1978 to ‘life of the author plus 70 years,’ and extends copyrights for corporate works to 95 years from the year of first publication, or 120 years from the year of creation, whichever expires first.” [4] It is clear that the US copyright and patent system are being abused by powerful companies to keep their power.

One way to fight this is by using open source technologies, they are so successful that even companies who abuse patent laws have built using them. The reason the internet is as open and free as it is, is directly due to the foundation of open source software that underpins 60 percent of the worlds websites [5]. Companies are increasingly buying and controlling the major players in the world of open source software, IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat and Microsoft’s purchase of GitHub being two salient examples. Without increased participation and stake-holding by individuals we could see the internet we know disappear into a mire of companies fighting to patent every part of it. 

While there is merit in intellectual property protection in general it certainly needs to be overhauled, the law moves far too slowly and without understanding for the incredible speeds the internet changes at. The DMCA is an incredibly influential law on an internet that runs on fiber optics and at speeds that would blow the mind of anyone in 1998. It is no longer the dial-up chat room with easily moderated platforms, Youtube alone hosts 500 new hours of content every minute [6]. Congress needs to be more informed and quick with its response to these critical issues.

[1]Bargaining with consequences: Leverage and coercion in negotiation. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1107&context=faculty_lawreviews 

[2]Doctorow, C. (2019, July 23). Clever hack that will end badly: Playing copyrighted music during Nazis rallies so they can't be posted to YouTube. Boing Boing. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://boingboing.net/2019/07/23/double-edged-swords-r-us.html 

[3]Nawrat, A. (2019, November 12). Exploring companies' manipulation of Pharma Patents. Pharmaceutical Technology. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/pharma-patents-manpulation/ 

[4]Escovedo, J. H. (2021, January 12). Disney's influence on United States Copyright Law. The IP Law Blog. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.theiplawblog.com/2016/02/articles/copyright-law/disneys-influence-on-united-states-copyright-law/ 

[5]The digital economy runs on open source. here's how to protect it. Harvard Business Review. (2021, September 2). Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2021/09/the-digital-economy-runs-on-open-source-heres-how-to-protect-it 

[6]Published by L. Ceci, & 22, M. (2023, March 22). Youtube: Hours of video uploaded every minute 2022. Statista. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/259477/hours-of-video-uploaded-to-youtube-every-minute/