100 signatures reached
To: Congress, United States Copyright Office
Release Coyote vs. Acme, Batgirl, and other titles to the public domain!
Right now, a loophole in tax law is allowing film companies to create films and TV series, never release them or pull them from streaming services, and then write off the loss as a tax break. Last year, Disney removed more than 50 titles from their streaming platform, getting a $1.5 BILLION tax write-off for this self-inflicted loss.
Sign the petition to demand Congress update the law so that if everyday taxpayers end up bankrolling these “losses,” then the titles should immediately be released into the public domain!
Why is this important?
Warner Bros. Discovery received pushback when it announced it wasn’t releasing “Batgirl,” a film with a $90 million budget, and instead was writing off the loss—cementing that fans would never see the film, despite now basically paying for its production. And now the same thing is rumored to be happening to the finished “Coyote vs. Acme” film, which cost a whopping $70 million to create.
This sets a concerning precedent for what one writer is calling the "era of disposable content." And it's not just disappointing to fans and the public when these finished films and television series are never released—it's a blow to all the creative talent involved in making it.
Our government is responsible for regulating companies and protecting artists. They have a responsibility to intervene into the legality of these actions, and, in the meantime, require companies that receive money through these tax breaks to release the titles to the public domain.