3 ms·
How on earth is a 100+ year old song still in copyright anyway, even if the author was known?
by scoot 11y ago
How on earth is a 100+ year old song still in copyright anyway, even if the author was known?
- NameNickHN 11y agoIt looks like this will be the norm in a couple of years. I expect that there will be a time when no music or books are entering the public domain anymore.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- angelbob 11y agoWe're basically there already. Disney pushes back the copyright date every decade or two so that Mickey Mouse (steamboat willy, 1920s) never gets into the public domain.
- danieltillett 11y agoThe ip Disney is trying to protect is Winnie the poo.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- mtgx 11y agoWell you know, if the author's grand-grandchildren don't live off his work, it might make him not want to create anymore... Or it could be just that the corporations which bought many of the money-making copyrights long ago want to continue to receive royalties from it indefinitely.
- scoot 11y agoA tangential question - if ownership is established, would said owner have a case against Warner for the $2M a year they've been raking in against an illegitimate copyright claim?
- jcranmer 11y agoThe timing basis for copyright starts counting down at the date of first authorized publication, not at the state of conception. Well, pre-1976; the 1976 copyright act actually starts the clock from the date of fixation. The essential problem with the Happy Birthday song is that no one is quite sure who created it, and thus no one is quite sure which publication (if any!) would be an actual authorized publication. It thus falls under really, really gray areas of the law. It should be noted, however, that the most plausible scenario that could win a victory at court (in terms of being able to prove that copyright exists) would have the copyright expire in about 400 days anyways.