Last June, fans of Comedy Central – the long-running channel behind beloved programmes such as The Daily Show and South Park – received an unwelcome surprise. Paramount Global, Comedy Central’s parent company, unceremoniously purged the vast repository of video content on the channel’s website, which dated back to the late 1990s.
The simple answer to this is to change the tax code to not allow for write offs for completed projects. And to shorten how long copyright lasts (fuck Disney so much for that one)
Also set up a standardized licensing process that breaks the mini-monopolies of exclusive content.
Personally, I’d also limit copyright to specific works and not the characters, setting, etc. Then protect trademarks and use those to establish canon. Like in the MCU and DC universes, Spiderman and Batman don’t exist together, but in the Superhero Fan Universe, they are roommates and play genius billionaire vs superhuman with a sixth sense prank wars on each other.
What does this have to do with write-offs? I don’t think they can write off episodes of South Park and the daily show that have already aired.
It’s more for things like the batgirl movie that is finshed but will make more money in tax write offs to never release it. But if they lose ad revenue from removing a back catalogue, that may also let them post a loss and claim tax breaks.
I think the suggestion is that if they leave the content available, they can still write it off.
I don’t think they can write it off either way, though. It only makes sense to write off shows that haven’t made money. It’s just “retiring” when you’re taking about something that’s already been released. There’s no ulterior profit motive, unlike when they write off unreleased movies and shows.