3 ms·
There are so many works that are a crazy tangle of copyright that make it quite impossible to legally get a hold of them. Shows where individual characters hav
by shakna 7y ago
There are so many works that are a crazy tangle of copyright that make it quite impossible to legally get a hold of them.
Shows where individual characters have their copyright held by various estates (where the original copyright holder has been dead for fifty years), the music rights have reverted back to various production companies, and the distribution rights have been sold and split and re-sold so many times the only way to discover who owns them is to let yourself get sued.
- Wowfunhappy 7y agoI would love a system semi-similar to trademarks. If a copyrighted work is unavailable outside the second-hand market for three consecutive years, noncommercial redistribution becomes legal. Sane trademark expiration could end up making this partially moot, however.
- musicale 7y agoAs you note, trademarks are potentially permanent. So even when they copyright of a work expires, the characters, may still be locked up under trademark protection.