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Did the works of Django Reinhardt enter the public domain?
If something is in the public domain, is it still accessible for copying or can companies still profit off of selling public domain material? For example, if I “pirate” a public domain text published by some company, am I in the wrong?
I had a similar question before reading Moby Dick. I noticed it was being sold online, although inexpensive, which made me wonder. It turned out the English text is in the public domain, and anyone can profit from it. So, why did the publisher charge for it? I wanted to read it in my native language, Polish, and the translation was not in the public domain. Additionally, I wanted to easily upload it to my Kindle, so…
Why not. Easy money.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Someone pointed out to me that Winnie the Pooh brings in more money than Mickey, and his copyright is just about the same timeframe. Everyone assumes The Mouse is what Disney is shitting bricks over and it's just as likely it's the silly ol' bear instead.
Hmm I’m not sure - that might be true for movies but is it true for merch? Think of all the Mickey ears that get sold at the parks. Either way there is a boatload of Mickey related revenue still…
Obviously not nothing, and the fact they are close together doesn’t give Disney a ramp down once PD starts affecting them.
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The timelessness of those old cartoons has waned considerably. GenX was already getting reruns of Disney and Looney Tunes cartoons that were aimed at Boomers. As the boomers are aging out, a lot of the slices of both domestic life and leisure time in these cartoons are something alien. Women in the kitchen? Hunting rabbits? And with a shotgun? Really? Itchy and Scratchy are Tom and Jerry ad absurdum. The Flintstones…
I recently attended a 90 minute marathon of those old cartoons. At least those 90 minutes absolutely hold up. Quite a few of them had themes that sailed right over your (and my) head when we watched them as kids. e.g. What's Opera, Doc? and Rabbit of Seville
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There's none. But the validity of a copyright of a work is dependent on the place in which you're applying the law, not on the place where the author is from (except when applying the rule of the shorter term). Tons of works are in the public domain in one country, but not another.
The oldest still in effect copyright I know of is from 1611: the King James translation of the bible is still copyright of the crown in the UK. No other country recognizes that copyright.
I can beat that by over 4000 years.
As far as Icelandic copyright law is concerned the copyright on the Diary of Merer[1], written 4500 years ago, will be held by the French Egyptologist Pierre Tallet until 2039.
This is because the copyright protection commerces when the work is made available for sale, loaning out etc. to the public.
If you discover a previously unpublished work that's not protected by copyright you get to enjoy 25 years of copyright protection, i.e. the copyright is assigned to the person who discovered and published the work.
I only have a source in Icelandic, it's article 44 of the copyright act [2].
The mouse via Steamboat Willie is scheduled to enter public domain? Guess we can look forward to quite eventful three weeks before the end of the year, while Disney is frantically trying to prevent that outcome.
Disney spent the last decade or so growing their business (through large acquisitions) to where Mickey is now just small fraction of their worth. So they likely don't really care anymore. Plus it's only the old, old design of Mickey, not the current version they have been using for awhile that looks more normal to most people these days.
If something is in the public domain, is it still accessible for copying or can companies still profit off of selling public domain material? For example, if I “pirate” a public domain text published by some company, am I in the wrong?
Very good question! Not an IP lawyer, but I believe the gist of it you may copy the original work, but not any sufficiently transformative derivative work, as that would gain its own copyright. So you could copy the text of a public domain book and re-publish it yourself, yes. You could also sell your copies for $10/ea, just like the publisher you're copying from is doing, or give them away for free, or whatever you…