5 ms·
In USA the copyright holder (which might be the late author's estate) owns the IP for 70 years after death of the original author. After the 70 years have elap
by gsylvie 10y ago
In USA the copyright holder (which might be the late author's estate) owns the IP for 70 years after death of the original author. After the 70 years have elapsed the work enters the public domain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries'_copyright_lengths https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries'_copyright_l...
- jacobush 10y agoUnless you are immortal, like Disney.
- vacri 10y agoTo be fair, Disney actively and heavily works their IP. They don't just let it rot in a corner attracting a dribble of royalties.
- flukus 10y agoOn the other hand, a lot of their IP (like beauty and the beast) was never really theirs.
- vacri 10y agoThey have trademarked it, but not copyrighted it. The trademark is a bit overstepping - no-one else can market something as Snow White - but anyone can do the Snow White story, as long as Ms White doesn't look like the Disney artwork.
- vetinari 10y agoThose are new works. The old works are supposed to pass to the public domain. And of course, Disney takes heavily FROM the public domain (Aladdin, Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Tarzan, Snow White...)