Copyright Laws exist to protect authorship and avoid unauthorized versions and variations of said work. Should copyright laws then also protect work from its own author?  In film particularly this has become a growing problem as technology improves and the digitization of film stock becomes more cost effective. More and More we see old films shot  on 35mm film being re-released in HD digital format, this in itself would not pose a problem and would facilitate consumership by a more modern audience than that at the time of the film’s original release. However, Filmmakers who retain the rights to their films such as George Lucas have taken this as an opportunity to change details in their films by re-editing them. This can change the entire meaning of certain scenes and the way characters are viewed by audiences. A prime example is the infamous Cantina scene in Star Wars: A New Hope. In the original cut of the scene at the time it is released Harrison Ford’s character murders an Alien attempting to capture Ford’s Character Han Solo. In this original version in Han Solo shoots through a table and kills the Alien before he has a chance to react. Lucas then re-released the film in an updated version boasting of better technology and an “Improved” film. Audiences were horrified when they noticed that the Cantina scene had been re-edited to a version in which the Alien shoots first and Han Solo reacts in self defense. This changes Han’s character from an edgy space cowboy to a righteous yet gritty adventurer.

This is but one example of how changing a minor detail can in turn change the motives of a central character and therefore the entire emotional aspect of the film. Do Authors have the right to go back on their fans and change details of the work that Audiences have come to know and love or does this work now that it has been consumed by the general public belong to the general public. Modern Copyright laws have repeatedly shown us that lawmakers feel that the work belongs to its author and that the author may do as they please with said work, including re-releasing and changing details.