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From Motherboard
When the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, movies, songs, and books created in the United States in 1923—even beloved cartoons such as Felix the Cat—will be eligible for anyone to adapt, repurpose, or distribute as they please.
A 20-year freeze on copyright expirations has prevented a cache of 1923 works from entering the public domain, including Paramount Pictures' The Ten Commandments, Charlie Chaplin's The Pilgrim, and novels by Aldous Huxley.
Such a massive release of iconic works is unprecedented, experts say—especially in the digital age, as the last big dump predated Google.
In 2013, Paul Heald, a law professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, conducted a survey of books for sale on Amazon. He found that more books were for sale from the 1880s than the 1980s.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by NewNic on Monday December 31 2018, @07:55PM (9 children)
Congress will pass another copyright extension that will remove these works from the public domain. This will happen before Mickey Mouse enters the public domain.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 5, Informative) by RandomFactor on Monday December 31 2018, @07:59PM (2 children)
This is Disney's unforgivable sin. It cannot and should not be forgotten.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 31 2018, @10:06PM (1 child)
It's already forgotten. Disney is making money hand over fist, and all of America is happy to fork their own hard-earned money into Disney's coffers. America's response to Disney's insult was to bat an eye, and briefly mutter a round-mouthed "OHHH". Next day, it was forgotten.
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Wednesday January 02 2019, @12:11AM
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31 2018, @10:53PM (1 child)
Or just exempt Disney properties expressly. They wouldn't mind if everyone else lost their rights....
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @08:21PM
Yes they would. More works in the public domain = more competition for Disney. They hate CC licensed work and if it were up to them they don't want anyone producing any competing works.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Monday December 31 2018, @11:59PM (3 children)
The annoying part about additional extensions is they will get passed quietly on the back of some unrelated law such that even the few that are paying attention might not notice.
But then again, will it even matter if an extension is passed or not? If works based on these new public domain works continue to get DMCAed, would anybody even be able to do anything about it? I'm aware they already DMCA stuff that should be in the public domain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @03:14AM (2 children)
How is even possible? Or legal? Each and every single law should be passed on its own.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @04:01AM (1 child)
The people passing the laws determine what is legal. They made it legal.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @08:04AM
The people passing the laws don't even read them.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Monday December 31 2018, @07:56PM
Additional Discussion here Public Domain Day is Coming [soylentnews.org]
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31 2018, @09:04PM (27 children)
It is too bad that anything written before 1985 is unreadable crap. /s
(Score: 5, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 31 2018, @10:11PM (20 children)
That statement suggests to me that you are illiterate. You're not capable of reading print and/or cursive on dead tree skin? In effect you've tossed out everything ever written by the Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, and all those savages from the colder parts of Europe. China is right out the window (watch your head, Sun Tzu!!) along with those South American and African peoples whose little-understood written traditions we barely understand.
If you can't find worthy titles to read that were published before some arbitrary date like 1985, it can only mean that you are illiterate.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31 2018, @10:15PM (13 children)
Wrong. It could also mean that he's a millennial asshole.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31 2018, @10:30PM (11 children)
> ... he's a millennial asshole
, who had to read some literature in school, and didn't like it.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday December 31 2018, @10:52PM (10 children)
Well, I remember hating "Crime and Punishment", "The Idiot", and "Jude the Obscure". Horrible classics. I also, however, didn't like "Moby Dick", and many people assure me that's really an excellent book.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Touché) by aristarchus on Monday December 31 2018, @11:43PM (7 children)
Hating classic literature says more about you than it does about the corpus. I suppose you do not like Homer, either? Homer, of the Iliad and the Odyssey, not Homer Simpson.
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Tuesday January 01 2019, @12:08AM (1 child)
Hating some classics does not mean hating all...
I've spent about 50 years reading everything I can get my hands on, an average of a book every 4 to 6 weeks. From Plato to Smolin, passing thru saint Thomas Aquinas, Yates, Steinbeck, Paz, García Márquez and many others.
However I never made it past page 17 of Moby Dick. I tried many times, it was like swallowing sand.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday January 01 2019, @12:45AM
Really! I read the tale of the White Whale shortly after Melville published, and found it fascinating. Of course, it is a series of long digressions about life at sea and any number of other things, which I found almost philosophical. Perhaps it might be good to take a look at Melville's other works? Like Typee [gutenberg.org]?
Sand must be swallowed slowly, but it sticks with you. On the other hand, the millennial asshole who discards anything pre-1985 is dismissing all classics, so even Runaway's accusation of illiteracy is on the mark.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday January 01 2019, @01:26AM (3 children)
Oh, kid, explainable; it would take about 3 centuries for the two poems to be transcribed in textual form.
You see, blind as he was, Homer must have hated written literature himself (grin)
(minor point: don't be that dismissive, magister. Exceptional acts of creation may occur even from non formally-educated authors. Yes, it happens quite infrequent, but it happens)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Touché) by aristarchus on Tuesday January 01 2019, @09:20AM (2 children)
Even in my time there were rhapsodes, with the entire poems committed to memory. The "text" is not the glyphs, it is the text itself, and very many oral cultures have very many texts that only exist in the transmission of Kumu to student. But if our young millennial hater of literature hates the inscribed text, how much more must he/she hate the text that one must dedicate years to memorizing? Sing to me, Muses, of the polytropic man. . . See, it starts like that, and it goes on. The telling of the story is the main thing. And the story goes on.
Rather like this:
What? There are Soylentils who do not read Greek? Well I expected as much from Runaway, or Bradley12, or khallow, but try to have some culture, people!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @11:42AM
I am very much a fan of oral
(Score: 3, Interesting) by fritsd on Tuesday January 01 2019, @12:43PM
how the fuck are you meant to intonate polla d ho g en pontooi?? the daktylos is like a skeleton tapping his fingers on the table and losing the rhythm.
Personally, I'm a big fan of drs. P's rhyming meter "ollekebolleke" [wikipedia.org], apparently it's similar to a double dactyl [wikipedia.org], but with one mandatory six-syllable word. I'm well impressed with people who can rhyme like that. If those rhymes are also rememberable for 500 years or longer is of course not tested yet.
Eeh.. can hardly read the small print on a photo of a page of drs. P's own version of Odyssey.. here goes..
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday January 01 2019, @02:01AM
Actually I found the Iliad OK, the Odyssey a bit better, but I really liked Metamorphosis.
However consider the topic of the ones I listed as disliking. I have a strong distaste for downers whether ancient or modern.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday January 01 2019, @12:09AM (1 child)
By contrast, I absolutely loved "War and Peace": The opening party scene was a bit too slow for my tastes, but once it was past that it got really fun really fast, especially when Napoleon shows up.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday January 01 2019, @02:05AM
It's got some really good point, alright. But my point was that just disliking the "classic literature" you get exposed to doesn't say much without saying *which* literature (and often even which translation) you disliked. There are versions of Dante's "Inferno" that I really like, but other translations leave me wishing the guy hadn't written it.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31 2018, @10:50PM
I vote this.
(Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Monday December 31 2018, @11:16PM
It includes 1984, so it's probably not arbitrary :-P
(Score: 3, Informative) by krishnoid on Monday December 31 2018, @11:19PM
D'oh [urbandictionary.com].
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @12:00AM
Well you are a Navy man according to your back story so I'm not surprised that plane whooshed right over your head.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday January 01 2019, @01:13AM
Haven't you hear of audio-books, pops?
Why, they are as old as culture - no less than Odyssey and Iliad were first published as such.
(large grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Kalas on Tuesday January 01 2019, @06:44AM
How on earth did this get voted to +5? I can get maybe one person (you in this case) skimming over the "/s" and taking that statement at face value but it's surprising to see so many other replies here that completely miss the sarcasm.
It should be pretty clear the AC was mocking such young fools who can't see the value in the classics. (I refuse to use the term millenial because it's abused to the point of losing meaning.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @11:20AM
lol and you can't read a /s?
(Score: 2) by ledow on Tuesday January 01 2019, @01:02AM (2 children)
Dickens.
Tolkien.
H G Wells.
All "popular" writings, some intended for children! Just because our literary standards and schooling have dropped enormously since doesn't mean they are inaccessible.
I agree in some respects, where things are Shakespeare are unreadable and uninterpretable without significant investment in the text, background, literature, history, etc.
I would argue that anything SINCE 1985 has a lower signal-to-noise than that which comes before it.
Don't even get me started on The Martian, anything by Dan Brown, Harry Potter and that Fifty Shades rubbish.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @03:18AM (1 child)
Oh, come now, what's wrong with Harry Potter?
It spawned realms of fanfiction!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday January 01 2019, @05:06AM
I prefer the official version [youtube.com].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @01:09AM
It is too bad that anything written before 1985 is unreadable crap. /s
/s. Short for sarcastic.
1. A cutting, often ironic remark intended to express contempt or ridicule.
2. A form of wit characterized by the use of such remarks: detected a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
(Score: 2) by SpockLogic on Tuesday January 01 2019, @01:28AM (1 child)
Clearer now?
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday January 01 2019, @02:57AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31 2018, @10:44PM (2 children)
Doesnt anyone else see the problem in this?
This is not cause for celebration, its time to get pissed off and get out the flaming pitchforks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @03:20AM (1 child)
Great. But at who specifically?
(Score: 2) by J_Darnley on Tuesday January 01 2019, @12:15PM
Disney? Aren't they responsible for the most recent, retroactive copyright extension?
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Monday December 31 2018, @11:07PM
I'd done a s/Ic/Ir/ in my brain the first time I read this and my first thought was that the hipsters are going to make this a holiday.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @03:30AM
Crying tears of joy. Finally. We can make that movie my great grandfather penned based on.. no.. wait.. no one cares anymore.
Oh well.
Maybe I'll just go back to listening to music released into the public domain from the 70s. That's out there, right?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Ken_g6 on Tuesday January 01 2019, @05:21AM
The version of The Ten Commandments that's coming into the public domain is not the one we see every Easter, with Charlton Heston. This one [wikipedia.org] is a Cecil B. Demille silent film.
In fact, we won't get the first feature film with sound, The Jazz Singer [wikipedia.org], into the public domain until four years from now!
(Score: 3, Informative) by canopic jug on Tuesday January 01 2019, @07:48AM (3 children)
Duke University's Law School's Center for the Study of the Public Domain has some notes on this years upgrades from 1923
January 1, 2019 is (finally) Public Domain Day: Works from 1923 are open to all! [duke.edu]
What Could Have Entered the Public Domain on January 1, 2019? [duke.edu]
See also:
The Verge : After a 20 year delay, works from 1923 will finally enter the public domain tomorrow [theverge.com]
Outside the Beltway : After 20-Year Delay, Works from 1923 Lose Copyright Protection [outsidethebeltway.com]
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by mhajicek on Tuesday January 01 2019, @08:21AM (2 children)
The term of copyright for a work should be calculated based on the state of the law at the time the work was copyrighted. Anything else is retroactive law making.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 01 2019, @11:40AM
That.. is very sane.
Consider other crimes. If it didn't used to be a crime and the law was changed then it only matters after the law changed.
If copyright at the time for these works was only a few years, how can they extend it now?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 02 2019, @04:21AM
Get a whiff of this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URAA [wikipedia.org]