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.
A trademark on the name (but not legitimately the likeness) of Betty Boop is owned by Fleischer Studios, for which the character was created in the 1930s, but which was unable to claim copyright infringement in a 2008 district court case; the merchandising rights to Betty's name were licensed to King Features Syndicate ...
In 2011, it was announced that the Fleischer family did not own the copyright or trademark of Betty Boop and could therefore not prevent others from using the character's image.
Betty Boop - Rhythm on the Reservation (1939) - Public Domain Movies
Can I use Betty Boop as a logo?
It was later found out that the Betty Boop character is a Fleischer trademark but it can't be used to stop people from redistributing old PD Betty images and or items of the character. The Fleischer family tried to say trademark trumped copyright but the Judge said that it doesn't.
That's because the 1926 storybook, titled Winnie-the-Pooh, which introduced the titular character, passed into the public domain at the start of 2022, voiding its copyright, and thus Disney's media exclusivity over the character.
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.
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.
Esther Lee "Baby Esther" Jones, a Black Chicago woman and well-known singer of the 1920s, is the initial inspiration for the cartoon character, Betty Boop, who first appeared in the 1930s. Jones' musical compositions fell under the growing Jazz community.
Felix's early shorts, including his first appearance in the 1919 short Feline Follies as "Major Tom," are in the public domain. However, the modernized and more instantly recognizable version of the character -- the one with the magic bag of tricks and a shorter, stubbier form -- is owned by Universal.
Some of the people who dress up as a "Black Betty Boop" are actually giving tribute to Baby Esther Jones rather than Betty Boop. Betty Boop has never been a Black woman or girl in the original cartoons. She however was depicted as "Samoan" in Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle, Popeye the Sailor and Betty Boop's Rise to Fame.
She is one of the most popular and successfully licensed characters in entertainment history, with licensees in the United States and around the world that produce quality products bearing Betty's likeness in virtually every category.
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.
The term “public domain” encompasses those materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. No individual owns these works; rather, they are owned by the public.
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.
In the next decade, early versions of franchise-leading characters such as Superman, Batman, Donald Duck, The Hobbit, and James Bond are all head into 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.
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.
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.
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.
Mary Poppins She is never named as "Mary Poppins" because the character is not in the public domain. In general, the book character of Winnie the Pooh (think the stuffed teddy bear with no shirt from the original illustrations and toy) is in the public domain. Rita Hayworth Gilda image: Columbia Pictures.
While most of the stories from the Disney Princess line are adapted from public domain fairy tales and folk stories, individual portrayals are protected by copyright.
