featuring new versions of public domain Golden Age heroes Captain Midnight, Commander X, and the Blue Beetle, renamed Blue Scarab to avoid DC copywrite.
It’s a new year and that means new old works have entered the public domain. Now understand there’s a difference between copyrights, which under US law every 95 years older works enter public domain but that doesn’t mean the trademark, which only expires if the owner doesn’t update their trademark, is available. Last year, for example, Steamboat Willie entered public domain. That means the version of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Pete featured in that short and that short alone entered public domain but Disney still owns the characters and you can’t use any other version of them and must make it clear it’s not a Disney product. Or something like that. Law is not my strong suit.
Sound recordings have a longer time period. While other works from 1930 are now free and clear, sound recordings in public domain only go back to 1925. This isn’t counting works that copyrights weren’t protected for. That’s how I do the Golden Age comics on Fridays, because when the company died the stories went into public domain, and in some cases even the characters if they didn’t get bought by someone else, like DC doing the acquisition game long before Disney.
Duke Law’s Center For Public Domain celebrates “Public Domain Day” every year and posted a list of everything now available for use by everyone with caveats and a better explanation of public domain, copyright law versus trademarks. How much of it will be turned into slasher movies by unimaginative childhood haters we’ll have to wait and see. The first link goes to their list, but if you want a more entertaining video with a guy who swears pretty often but not obnoxiously so, the following video by Steve Shives goes over everything available. Famous movies, another member of Mickey’s team and one of his contemporaries (both with asterisks…and both involving dogs), well known kids character (probably the first slasher addicts’ choices I unfortunately bet), well known music, a tale of war’s ugliness, and more are now free for use. Is something you like on this list?
BW Media Spotlight 