Derivatives

I raised my hands and protested, "My friend, you are going too far."

"You may be right, but, unfortunately, my idea is not very much far-fetched," L put up a bitter smile, "Banning derivative work simply means prohibiting artistic creation of all kinds, for there is actually no music or painting or literature entirely created de novo - and, as an ordinary citizen with an average intelligence, my worry is obviously when and for what reason the government officials would execute the law."

"I know what you mean. It is common sense that a law should be enacted if, and only if, it could be easily executed without bias - and the proposal at hand is certainly not a good example. But, banning derivative work does seem to protect copyright.” I said.

“Yes, but the price is astronomical. As Sherlock Holmes said, there’s nothing new under the sun. Everything we write and all pictures we draw could be considered as modifications of existing work or idea. For example, all Chinese novel and monographs are arguably derivative works of Cangjie (倉頡)!”

“My friend, no one will prosecute us for that, I suppose.” I chuckled.

“No, unless you write something undesirable.” My friend did not smile back.