Failure to renew 28 years after a movie or TV show was made is the main reason that American films made before 1964 are currently in the public domain. In 1966 Congress prepared a new copyright law that extended protection to 75 years from the date a film was released.
How long does it take for a film to become public domain?
In the United States, any motion pictures made and featured before 1925 are permanently within the public domain. Current public domain laws state that any new films have copyrights for 95 years.
In truth, the earliest version of Mickey Mouse, which first appeared in the 1928 landmark animated short Steamboat Willie, will be entering the public domain when the film's copyright expires in 2024.
For works published after 1977, if the work was written by a single author, the copyright will not expire until 70 years after the author's death. If a work was written by several authors and published after 1977, it will not expire until 70 years after the last surviving author dies.
The beloved mouse that is nearly a century old will soon enter public domain — the original Mickey Mouse's copyright expires in 2024. This anthropomorphic mouse is recognizable even by the silhouette of his ears and, in some ways, has been the face of The Walt Disney Co. since his 1928 creation.
The children's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum in 1900 is in the public domain. This follows the general rule that any work published before 1923 is in the public domain. The film, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland and directed in 1939 by Victor Fleming is NOT in the public domain.
Walt Disney Co. has controlled the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh since 1961 and kept depictions of Milne's talking animals true to the spirit of the family-friendly material. The copyright expired in January 2022. Since then, Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends have been available to the public for other purposes.
Although the original character that appeared in Oz books published before 1923 is in the public domain, the later versions of the character (used in post-1923 Oz books) are NOT in the public domain. The visual expression of the Scobby-Doo character is a registered trademark.
All films that were published in the United States before 1923 (i.e. they came out in 1922 or earlier and they first appeared in the US as opposed to another country) are in the public domain.
Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Eeyore and Christopher Robin all became public domain on January 1 last year when the copyright on A.A. Milne's 1926 book, Winnie-the-Pooh, with illustrations by E.H. Shepard, expired.
In 1928, copyrights lasted for 28 years, with the option for renewal of another 28 years. As of 2023, Mickey Mouse was published almost 95 years ago. The copyright of the original Mickey Mouse character – as it appeared in “Steamboat Willie” – expires on January 1, 2024.
Initially, copyrights only lasted 28 years. But, due in large part to Disney's lobbying and legal efforts, copyrights were first extended to 75 years, then later to 95 years.
Over the next several years, several prominent DC characters are going to become public domain. Superman becomes public domain in 2034 followed by Batman in 2035 and then Wonder Womanin 2036. Many JSA and other golden age characters will become PD over the next few years as well, some earlier than Superman.
If ONLY the film itself is copied, it is completely legal. Not the logos, artwork or anything else, which would be copyrighted. Just the pd material alone. Unless the movie has SIGNIFICANT change to the story, restoration or copy protection does change this status.
He's public domain. Popeye's image now belongs to the world. There are no longer royalties to pay because his creator, Elzie Segar, died in 1939, and in much of the world, copyright expires 70 years after the creator's death.
Since Shrek was created by DreamWorks Animation in 2001, its copyright will not expire until at least 2096. Therefore, it will not enter the public domain for many decades. Who owns Shrek? Shrek is owned by DreamWorks Animation which is part of Comcast's Universal Pictures and NBCUniversal.
When does Tom and Jerry (cat and mouse characters) become public domain? January 1, 2036. That's when the first Tom and Jerry cartoon, Puss Gets The Boot, enters the public domain.
The Betty Boop character is a Fleischer trademark. But–Betty Boop 1930s movie posters were not copyrighted (or not renewed?) as standalone items, so are public domain. Fleischer tried to use its active trademark on the character to stop a third party's use of the ancient PD art. Judge said this was a no-go.
Many classic creations will be following in Winnie the Pooh's footsteps and entering the public domain in the next few years. In addition to Winnie the Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore have already been released into the public domain. Following them, Tigger's copyright protection is set to lapse in 2024.
Thanks to copyright term extensions over the years, Disney still owns the rights for Milne's books and characters published after 1926 — including Tigger — as well as later materials published by the company using Milne's characters.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in 1910, before the cutoff of January 1, 1928. The longest-living author of this work died in 1943, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 79 years or less.
Everything Mark Twain wrote that was published before 1923 is now in the public domain and therefore may be freely quoted or reproduced in its entirety, without permission or fees.
Thus, the rest of Baum's Oz books did not enter public domain until the 75-year terms was up. Ozma of Oz (published in 1907) was the first to enter the public domain in 1983, and the subsequent books followed, with Glinda of Oz (published in 1920) finally entering the public domain in 1996.
