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What will enter the public domain in 2026?

publicdomainreview.org

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Re: What will enter the public domain in 2026?

#71

Post by testdelacc1 »

tonypapousek wrote: post #70
zozbot234 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just consume public-domain IP to begin with? The "Classics" of Western literature used to be viewed as the necessary foundation of a proper education in the humanities; and today you could add "classic" works from other literary traditions (India, China, etc.) for an even more well-rounded approach.

While your end goal is admirable, it’s more fun to share new experiences with others. Also, there’s a lot of really good albums from the past 70 years you’d be missing out on.

I used to be a patient video gamer, waiting for games to go on deep discount before buying them. Somehow it never occurred to me that I was missing out on the experiencing with everyone else at launch. I bought one game at launch and it was an absolute blast. We’re social animals, so of course sharing a new experience with others makes it more fun. I’m just surprised I couldn’t figure this simple fact out before hand.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2026?

#72

Post by GeoAtreides »

zozbot234 wrote: post #57
shevy-java wrote: post #32

> works by people who died in 1955 70 years. After death. The rules have to change. 70 years is way too long.

Sure, the term of copyright protection is quite long; but the amount of works that are legally 100% in the public domain and even Internet-accessible in some form but simply languishing in obscurity and have yet to be made comprehensively accessible to the general public (via digitizing, transcribing, indexing and comprehensive classification) may well be orders-of-magnitude larger! There's a whole lot of low-hanging…

Not sure why the amount of works in the public domain has any relevance to how long copyright protection is. Seems to me like they're two orthogonal issues.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2026?

#73

Post by bentley »

culi wrote: post #46
_trampeltier wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did. Before it was 50 years and get extended several times just before Mickey would enter public domain.

Yeah they've done a lobbying campaign about a dozen times when Mickey was set to enter public domain. I think GP was saying they're surprised they didn't do a 13th time. Like why give up now?

The last (general) copyright extension in the US was the CTEA in 1998. What’s happened since then? Google, who has power, money, and incentive to lobby against future copyright extensions.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2026?

#74

Post by jrimbault »

zozbot234 wrote: post #61
bcrosby95 wrote: post #58

The length of copyright is absurd. Corporations have hijacked a concept that should exist on human timescales. Ideally, a child could legally provide their own spin on IP they consumed by the time they reach adulthood. But also, people need to make a living. I actually think the original 14+14 year copyright is the right balance. It gives people time to make their profits, but also guarantees the right of people to t…

Why not just consume public-domain IP to begin with? The "Classics" of Western literature used to be viewed as the necessary foundation of a proper education in the humanities; and today you could add "classic" works from other literary traditions (India, China, etc.) for an even more well-rounded approach.

When the "classics" were decided to be "the classics" (by who? why? on what authority?) a lot of them were newer than Mickey Mouse is today.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2026?

#75

Post by lukan »

testdelacc1 wrote: post #71
tonypapousek wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While your end goal is admirable, it’s more fun to share new experiences with others. Also, there’s a lot of really good albums from the past 70 years you’d be missing out on.

I used to be a patient video gamer, waiting for games to go on deep discount before buying them. Somehow it never occurred to me that I was missing out on the experiencing with everyone else at launch. I bought one game at launch and it was an absolute blast. We’re social animals, so of course sharing a new experience with others makes it more fun. I’m just surprised I couldn’t figure this simple fact out before hand…

"I’m just surprised I couldn’t figure this simple fact out before hand."

Maybe you should have enjoyed more xkcd:

https://xkcd.com/606/

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2026?

#77

Post by prmoustache »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #55
prmoustache wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because in reality it hasn't entered public domain completely, only the very first movies and the way it was drawn in the 1930's. They are still protecting the one most people all know better.

The funny thing is that Mickey Mouse barely registers for kids these days. We went to Disney World this year and Mickey had a bit part in some of the shows. Elsa, Moana and the other modern characters were the real stars.

It is not even figuring in the Disney logo.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2026?

#78

Post by badmonster »

bcrosby95 wrote: post #58

The length of copyright is absurd. Corporations have hijacked a concept that should exist on human timescales. Ideally, a child could legally provide their own spin on IP they consumed by the time they reach adulthood. But also, people need to make a living. I actually think the original 14+14 year copyright is the right balance. It gives people time to make their profits, but also guarantees the right of people to t…

True, but wouldn't a sliding scale based on commercial success make more sense? How would you measure "worth it" for smaller creators?

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2026?

#79

Post by lukan »

b3lvedere wrote: post #67
al_borland wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So is the Diary of Anne Frank, that will surely get some sort of zombie remix in poor taste, I’m sure.

One could even combine How to Win Friends and Influence People, the Diary of Anne Frank, the works of Einstein and Adolf Hitler into a some strange gory anime and others could do nothing about that. The possibilities are endless.

"and others could do nothing about that. The possibilities are endless."

Well, I wouldn't be so sure about it. Just because other people have no more copyright legal angle, there are still other legal and plenty of non legal ways to bother you, if you manage to piss enough people off.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2026?

#80

Post by bentley »

robin_reala wrote: post #42
wahnfrieden wrote: post #10

Nothing in Japan from what I could find here or elsewhere… don’t understand why edit: thanks to the dead commenter for clarifying. that sucks.

I’m adding a one-act Tanizaki play to Standard Ebooks’ Tanizaki collection[1] on the 1st January. Some Akutagawa shorts go into US public domain next year too. (Note: copyright is based on the translation date, not the original language.) [1] https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/tanizaki-junichiro/short-f...

> Note: copyright is based on the translation date, not the original language.

It’s based on both. For example, a translation or other derivative work whose copyright expired “early” in the US due to non‐renewal would still be encumbered by the copyright of the original. That’s basically what happened to It’s a Wonderful Life—the film is technically in the public domain, but is still held in Paramount’s iron grip by way of the renewed copyright of the original short story.

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