2018 Is the Last Year of America's Public Domain Drought

Re:2018 Is the Last Year of America's Public Domain Drought by msingle on Monday January 01, 2018 @08:56PM (#16049281)

The more relevant deadline is for Winnie the Pooh (first published in 1924). Pooh is worth several billion dollars per year to Disney, so don't be surprised if they try to change the copyright (again) in the next year.

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Re:2018 Is the Last Year of America's Public Domain Drought by caf on Monday January 01, 2018 @10:04PM (#16049540)

I would have thought most of that merch would be based on Disney's visual depiction of Pooh dating from 1966.

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Re:2018 Is the Last Year of America's Public Domain Drought by iMerNibor on Monday January 01, 2018 @09:52PM (#16049489)

Wait, does the copyright not just cover the actual movie/videos/art/... of that time, still having them own the character itself (since they're actively using it)?

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Re:2018 Is the Last Year of America's Public Domain Drought by maxlybbert on Monday January 01, 2018 @11:24PM (#16049861)

I believe that officially only the movies, etc., would fall into the public domain. But people can make derivative works of public domain items, so they wouldn’t be limited to literal copies of Steamboat Willie. They could show Steamboat Willie using a smartphone.

However, Disney also has trademarks on Mickey Mouse, etc., so using Mickey’s likeness in commercial ways would still be a legal minefield.

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