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posted by martyb on Friday December 07 2018, @07:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the Please-keep-the-MOUSE-out-of-the-HOUSE-(and-Senate) dept.

Mark your calendar: on January 1, 2019, works will again begin entering the public domain in the United States.

On that day, one year's worth of copyrighted works — that were first published in 1923 — will become freely available to all.

A long list of affected works is available on Lifehacker, including movies, books, music, and art.

For 20 long years, the progression of works into the public domain stopped when copyright was extended in the Sonny Bono Act in 1998 to protect Disney's "Mickey Mouse"

Speaking of Disney, they're the ones who lobbied for such long copyright terms, because in 1998 Mickey Mouse's first appearance (in the 1928 cartoon Steamboat Willie) was close to losing its copyright. But after the Sonny Bono Act, Now that first Mickey Mouse appearance will enter the public domain in 2024.

It is an open question whether Disney will attempt to push for further extensions and changes in copyright by 2024. In the meantime however The Atlantic notes

A Google spokesperson confirmed that Google Books stands ready. Its software is already set up so that on January 1 of each year, the material from 95 years earlier that's currently digitized but only available for searching suddenly switches to full text.

Anyone else going to buy a Steamboat Willie shirt in 2024 and not one moment sooner?


Original Submission

Related Stories

Public Domain Day 2022 32 comments

As the new year starts, Duke University's Center for the Study of the Public Domain reminds us that works from 1926 ascend to public domain, and become available for use by any and all in any manner they may wish. There is also a lot of recorded music starting to enter the public domain, as an estimated 400,000 sound recordings from before 1923 hit the scene. Most of them music recordings are salvaged from very fragile 78 RPM platters using multiple methods.

In 2022, the public domain will welcome a lot of “firsts”: the first Winnie-the-Pooh book from A. A. Milne, the first published novels from Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, the first books of poems from Langston Hughes and Dorothy Parker. What’s more, for the first time ever, thanks to a 2018 law called the Music Modernization Act, a special category of works—sound recordings—will finally begin to join other works in the public domain. On January 1 2022, the gates will open for all of the recordings that have been waiting in the wings. Decades of recordings made from the advent of sound recording technology through the end of 1922—estimated at some 400,000 works—will be open for legal reuse.

Why celebrate the public domain? When works go into the public domain, they can legally be shared, without permission or fee. That is something Winnie-the-Pooh would appreciate. Community theaters can screen the films. Youth orchestras can perform the music publicly, without paying licensing fees. Online repositories such as the Internet Archive, HathiTrust, and Google Books can make works fully available online. This helps enable access to cultural materials that might otherwise be lost to history. 1926 was a long time ago. The vast majority of works from 1926 are out of circulation. When they enter the public domain in 2022, anyone can rescue them from obscurity and make them available, where we can all discover, enjoy, and breathe new life into them.

The public domain is also a wellspring for creativity. The whole point of copyright is to promote creativity, and the public domain plays a central role in doing so. Copyright law gives authors important rights that encourage creativity and distribution—this is a very good thing. But it also ensures that those rights last for a “limited time,” so that when they expire, works go into the public domain, where future authors can legally build on the past—reimagining the books, making them into films, adapting the songs and movies. That’s a good thing too! As explained in a New York Times editorial:

When a work enters the public domain it means the public can afford to use it freely, to give it new currency . . . [public domain works] are an essential part of every artist’s sustenance, of every person’s sustenance.

See also, What Will Enter the Public Domain in 2022? A festive countdown which, were it not blocked by javascript, would highlight a selection of what has become available.

Previously:
(2021) Public Domain Day in the USA: Works from 1925 are Open to All!
(2020) January 1, 2020 is Public Domain Day: Works From 1924 Are Open to All!
(2018) Public Domain Day is Coming
(2014) Happy Public Domain Day: Here are the Works that Copyright Extension Stole From You in 2015
and more ...


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Friday December 07 2018, @09:04AM (6 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Friday December 07 2018, @09:04AM (#771081) Homepage Journal

    It's a sad, sad state of affairs. Works nearly a century old finally becoming available to the public.

    "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries"

    While no numbers are named, the intent is clear: provide authors and inventors a time-limited opportunity to profit from their efforts. Not life-long and certainly not posthumously.

    Current copyright law is an abomination.

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @09:32AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @09:32AM (#771087)

      What better contributes to the common good than ensuring all the excrement of modern culture remains costly and relatively inaccessible?

      • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @10:51AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @10:51AM (#771099)

        You must be new to the internet.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @07:50PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @07:50PM (#771280)

        Why create anything non-excrement when a corporation is going to end up owning and controlling it anyway?

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by bobthecimmerian on Friday December 07 2018, @12:18PM (1 child)

      by bobthecimmerian (6834) on Friday December 07 2018, @12:18PM (#771115)

      I think you can argue that copyright law is an abomination, period. The original idea was to protect individual writers, composers, musicians, and artists against theft of their ideas. But the original intent is lost, now it's just a weapon wielded by big companies against everyone else.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @02:38PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @02:38PM (#771149)

        That was the original idea of American copyright law, the original idea of copyright law in general (as in the English one) was censorship.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @02:56PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @02:56PM (#771157)

      Current copyright law is an abomination.

      Current copyright law has been twisted by lobbyists (paid for by those 'big content companies' i.e., Disney) into protecting the revenue stream of old but still profitable creations (Mickey Mouse, etc.).

      This, of course, flies counter to the intent in the constitution, which was to provide an incentive to create new stuff by having the old stuff's protections expire in a limited time frame. Why create any new stuff when you (Disney) can continue to milk the profit teat of something you created almost a hundred years ago (Mickey Mouse)?

      The solution that we have, as non paid lobbyist's, is to vote out any politician that falls for the Disney spell, and to not buy anything Disney if we can possibly avoid it. No going to Disney parks, no buying Disney DVD's (whether or not they are in or out of the 'vault'), no buying Disney anything.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @11:52AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @11:52AM (#771107)

    Professor James Boyle will gladly inform you: https://www.thepublicdomain.org/enclosing-the-commons-of-the-mind/ [thepublicdomain.org]

    Don't click the Amazon link but instead the download link a few lines afterwards! (CC By-NC-SA)

  • (Score: 2, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Friday December 07 2018, @11:54AM (5 children)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Friday December 07 2018, @11:54AM (#771108) Homepage Journal

    And I was very honored when Disney asked me to do the recording of my Message of American Greatness & Unity, in my own voice. For the magnificent Hall of Presidents. In Disney World & Disneyland. Because they built the Trump Robot. Exactly the same size as me -- head to toe to "whatever." And he speaks my Message 24-7. So inspiring! Without stopping for water -- remember Little Marco and his funny little water bottle? Without taking a bathroom break -- who remembers Crooked H's trip to the Women's Room? DISGUSTING!!! twitter.com/SoCal4Trump/status/942955459664740352 [twitter.com]

    • (Score: 5, Funny) by deimtee on Friday December 07 2018, @01:16PM (1 child)

      by deimtee (3272) on Friday December 07 2018, @01:16PM (#771130) Journal

      I think I just found out why so many Americans do not believe in evolution.

      1. George Washington
      2. John Adams
      3. Thomas Jefferson
      4. James Madison
      5. James Monroe
        ....
      41. George Bush
      42. Bill Clinton
      43. George W. Bush
      44. Barack Obama
      45. Donald Trump

      --
      If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday December 07 2018, @06:01PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Friday December 07 2018, @06:01PM (#771246)

        Americans, or more specifically Republicans ? Look at that list again.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @01:04AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @01:04AM (#771367)

      You'll go down in history as "The Mickey Mouse President".

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @11:35AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @11:35AM (#771492)

        But, at least, he will, go down, as a, President.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31 2018, @08:23PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31 2018, @08:23PM (#780378)

          But at last, he will go

  • (Score: 2) by rigrig on Friday December 07 2018, @12:10PM (2 children)

    by rigrig (5129) Subscriber Badge <soylentnews@tubul.net> on Friday December 07 2018, @12:10PM (#771111) Homepage

    That's not an open question...
    Hint: yes it will.

    Also, as "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act" has already been taken, I'd like to suggest "The Steamboat Disney Act" for the similar piece of legislation which will be introduced in a couple of years.

    --
    No one remembers the singer.
    • (Score: 2) by Whoever on Friday December 07 2018, @04:37PM (1 child)

      by Whoever (4524) on Friday December 07 2018, @04:37PM (#771185) Journal

      The name of the bill will suggest that it is protecting something.

      The "Protecting Americans from Copyright Terrorists" act
      The "Protecting American Culture" act.
      etc..

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Friday December 07 2018, @06:04PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Friday December 07 2018, @06:04PM (#771247)

        "Straining Under Pressure to Enhance Revenue : Protecting American Culture"
        Yup, that will pass unanimously.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @12:30PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @12:30PM (#771117)

    Jewish Disney says no one benefits but the jews. They buy things from original creators with money they stole from others. Being completely unable to create anything, they depend on people to sell them their things. Then the jewish rent-seekers rent it out for life, swindling people for as long as possible.

    Do not sell things to or buy anything from them. They tell you their wares are the cheapest and of the highest quality but what they sell is of the lowest quality and quite expensive.

    Quit the brain-washing propaganda Disney and their friends and all the sell-outs.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @09:09PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @09:09PM (#771306)

      What? You're going to post that without mentioning that Disney culturally appropriates German folk stories? There's like an anti-Semite propaganda goldmine to be found here!

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Friday December 07 2018, @05:10PM (4 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday December 07 2018, @05:10PM (#771212) Journal

    We should celebrate it by selecting a new public-domain work for the book club!

    Anything from here [wikipedia.org] or here. [goodreads.com]

    We can even distribute our own copy of the book!

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Friday December 07 2018, @05:16PM (1 child)

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday December 07 2018, @05:16PM (#771215) Journal

      P.G. Wodehouse is pretty funny:

      The Inimitable Jeeves (Jeeves, #2)
      by P.G. Wodehouse

      Something for Aristarchus?

      The Ego and the Id
      by Sigmund Freud

      Never heard of it but I do like Aldous Huxley.

      Antic Hay
      by Aldous Huxley

      Ooh, some Lovecraft.

      The Lurking Fear and Other Stories
      by H.P. Lovecraft
      Hypnos
      by H.P. Lovecraft

      Wells, of course.

      Men Like Gods
      by H.G. Wells

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @10:51AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @10:51AM (#771477)

      And Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ [gutenberg.org]

      Great idea! Easier access means more people participating. And more people reading good books can only be a good thing.

    • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Saturday December 08 2018, @11:40AM

      by deimtee (3272) on Saturday December 08 2018, @11:40AM (#771494) Journal

      Oooah, looking at that goodreads list Bambi is going PD. What's the chances of Disney extending copyright before that happens? They've still got three weeks.

      --
      If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
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