Copyright is a tricky issue. Copyright infringement can be even trickier, since it seems like half the world fails to grasp even the most rudimentary basics of copyright (i.e. you don’t need to “file” or “claim” your copyright in any official capacity, it is granted to you at the moment of creation) and half the world just wants to throw a huge righteous hissy fit over stolen apple pie articles and confusing terms of service.
(And yes, I fully belong in that latter group, most of the time. BECAUSE INTERWEBS JUSTICE IS THE MOST DELICIOUS JUSTICE OF ALL.)
And I think it’s safe to say that China does not give one single microscopic fuck about copyright. Or trademarks or patents or pretty much the entire concept of intellectual property. It’s full of fake, unlicensed EVERYTHING: toys, electronics, designer labels, you name it.
(Though to be fair, I totally assumed most of these godawful fake almost-Disney movies were from China. But in fact, Brazil and India seem to be the biggest offenders in that area, though the U.S. and Canada are responsible for a couple of them too. The more you know!)
Last September, an unlicensed Angry Birds theme park opened in China (though from photos it looked more like a small playground with some carnival games). Rovio simply shrugged and took it as a compliment, and then announced plans to open an official version.
But you gotta admit that spending 48 million dollars on a gigantic, sprawling theme park that’s a blatant knockoff of World of Warcraft just takes it to a whole other level. An amazeballs level, frankly.
Of course, the knockoff park is actually called “World Joyland” and would prefer if you referred to its source material as Terrain of Magic, which is totes not World of Warcraft. TOTES!
Redditor FrancescaO_O (who, like me, has never actually played WoW but still wasn’t going to pass up a chance to visit this place) posted a ton of photos, which you can see here. I’ve picked a few of my favorites:
It actually looks pretty damn impressive for $48 million. Disneyland cost $17 million to build in 1955, which would be about $125 million today.
And is there a ride called “Splash of Monster Blood” at Disneyland? No. No there is not.
Only three out of five stars on the Happiness Index? Aim a little higher, World Joyland!
WHAT.
Seriously, no one will ever notice this absolutely massive, completely unlicensed theme park. IT’S THE PERFECT PLAN.
I am Legend? Wait. Are we talking book ending or the crappy film ending?
No, it’s not who you think. This is simply a fair-use homage to the beloved children’s classic Chop-Kick Panda. IT’S TOTALLY COOL.
See the rest of the album here.
About Amy Corbett Storch
