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Winnie the Pooh to Enter the Public Domain in 2022
- slickdork 5y agoSo who here is gonna be the one to write Zombie the Pooh?
- divbzero 5y agoWell, we do already have The Tao of Pooh [1]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Pooh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Pooh
- jhbadger 5y agoAnd earlier, the Pooh Perplex from 1963. It's a series of satirical interpretations of Winnie the Pooh from various perspectives -- Freudian, Marxist, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pooh_Perplex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pooh_Perplex
- OrderlyTiamat 5y agowhich inspired _Winnie-the-Pooh on Management_ [1] the first management book I ever read https://www.amazon.nl/Winnie-Pooh-Management-Important-introduced/dp/0143119664 https://www.amazon.nl/Winnie-Pooh-Management-Important-intro...
- ddtaylor 5y ago[flagged]
- More-nitors 5y agohm I guess he's already a PUBLIC figure anyway... now he's officially public-public!
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- backspace_ 5y ago
- AussieWog93 5y agoIt's New Year's Day, man. Everyone's fucked up right now. Chill. :)
- ddtaylor 5y agoIt will be interesting to see if there is an increase in Pooh memes about Xi. I mean, to be clear, there are already so many it's hard to envision an increase, but somehow I believe the Internet can do it. Also, if calling Xi a cartoon character upsets you I suggest NOT doing Internet.
- backspace_ 5y agoAnd those memes are just as bad as your "joke" If someone criticizing your low quality joke upsets you, maybe you need to find a better place to join that circle jerk.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dang 5y ago"Eschew flamebait. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents." (especially the most shallow and common kind) https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- EarlKing 5y ago> This only applies to the original works, and not to the subsequent adaptations and merchandise, which allows for Disney's incarnation of Winnie the Pooh to still be held under trademark by Disney. Oh bother.
- themodelplumber 5y agoWe should make an IceBear fork!
- robin_reala 5y agoHonestly, why would you bother with Disney’s boring incarnation of Pooh when you’ve got Shepherd’s original illustrations?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Al-Khwarizmi 5y agoBecause it's the one all kids know from books and TV. I wouldn't even know where to look for a book with the original illustrations (I mean, if I spent some time searching hard I guess I could, but that's not the point).
- kwhitefoot 5y agoHere you are: https://www.waterstones.com/book/when-we-were-very-young/a-a-milne/e-h-shepard/9780008512538 https://www.waterstones.com/book/when-we-were-very-young/a-a... Took less than 30 seconds.
- mcv 5y agoFinding a book with the original illustrations will be a lot easier once it's public domain.
- open-source-ux 5y agoThere is an alternative animated version of Winnie the Pooh made in Russia in 1969 by the director Fyodor Khitruk. Pooh is more lively than the Disney version - and has a very different character design to Disney (or Shepherd's original illustrations). To be fair to Disney, their Pooh design is closer to the spirit of Sherpherd's illustrations (but can't match the charm of Sherpherd's illustrations). "When Khitruk visited the Disney Studios, Wolfgang Reitherman, the author of Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day that won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, told him that he liked the Soviet version better than his own." [1] Winnie the Pooh (1969) in Russian with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCXegrxlKbI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCXegrxlKbI [1] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh_(1969_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh_(1969_film)
- kingcharles 5y agoAs with many articles on IP they are conflating copyright and trademark. The stories and illustrations will be copyright free, but the names of the characters (certainly the titular character) are covered by trademarks. I'm no IP expert, so I don't know the repercussions of putting out a book titled Winnie The Pooh containing the public domain stories. Certainly you'd be in the clear if it was titled Fat, Honey-Loving Bear Stories.
- dmitriid 5y ago> The stories and illustrations will be copyright free, but the names of the characters This doesn't make much sense. If the stories enter public domain, they enter in their entirety. Trademarks (usually) don't have such a broad application as "this name X is forbidden for use everywhere forever and ever". You will definitely be able to re-print and re-use the original text, the original name and possibly the original illustrations illustrations. It's possible you won't be able to use certain name combinations, illustrations etc. in merchandising, movies etc. because Disney trademarked those.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago>You will definitely be able to re-print and re-use the original text, the original name and possibly the original illustrations illustrations. that's nice for anyone who wants to publish books I guess, or for downloaders of Project Gutenberg material, but I don't think that is really what people care for who argue about copyright being too long etc. I guess what people really want is something that is anyway covered by fair use but people are afraid to do because big corporate lawyers. But I guess if the characters are trademarked you still have to worry about big corporate lawyers. Anyway, Pooh is only copyright free in US, still under copyright in UK - unsure if copyright free in EU, assume not.
- pmontra 5y agoEU: 2026 if this post is right https://publicdomaincharacters.tumblr.com/post/660184235411439617/winnie-the-pooh-turns-100 https://publicdomaincharacters.tumblr.com/post/6601842354114...
- gremlinsinc 5y agoThis conversation's hard to follow, esp w/ all the IANAL disclaimers...are there any lawyers who could maybe lay it straight for me.. if I wanted to create my own darker version of winnie the pooh...say in the same world as The Walking Dead... If I use my own artwork, I can or cannot use all the character names and attributes? Like Tigger is a Tiger that bounces.... or Rabbit is...a Rabbit... Pooh's a bear....etc..
- anjbe 5y agoYou would be able to use only those elements whose copyright had expired, meaning only what’s in the original book. (See, for example, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.) You wouldn’t be able to use Tigger, because that character was introduced in The House on Pooh Corner, whose copyright doesn’t expire until 2024.
- cblconfederate 5y agoI can't believe that still copyrights last that long
- joshspankit 5y agoThey didn’t used to. Personally, I put the responsibility for this on Disney: they have been lobbying for copyright extensions consistently, and do big pushes when Mickey is close to becoming public domain. It’s now 70 years after the creator’s death.
- merricksb 5y agoThis was a part of the discussion about works entering public domain 2 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29734933 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29734933
- tzs 5y agoOT: does anyone here still have the ebook of Winnie the Pooh that Apple included for free in your library when you set up iBooks on an iPad? They included it from the launch of iBooks (now called Apple Books) in April 2010 until sometime in mid-2011. In mid-2011 it became a paid book for new iBooks users but remained in the libraries of existing users. I noticed a couple years or so ago that it was no longer in my library. I don't know when it disappeared because I only rarely use iBooks, but everything else I remember getting in that first year is still there. Checking my account for ebooks on the account that are not on my Mac, I don't see it, so it isn't the case that I somehow just happened to delete it from my Mac. Nor is it on the list of hidden books. I'd have expected that if Apple had deleted it from existing libraries when they lost the rights to give away free copies that would have made the news but I've found no mention of that. In fact, all I found was just the opposite--apparently there were people who didn't want it in their library and were having trouble figuring out how to get rid of it! [1]. [1] https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-do-i-delete-winnie-the-pooh-from-ibooks.2191756/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-do-i-delete-winnie-...
- KANahas 5y agoI’ve still got my copy… interestingly enough though, it appears as several volumes now, of which only the first is free. The others are $9.99. IIRC it used to only be one book.
- irrational 5y agoWhen Peter Pan entered the public domain, there was a plethora of new books reimagining the Peter Pan story. I look forward to see what will be coming out around these new books entering the public domain.
- spoonjim 5y agoThere is already a great Winnie the Pooh prequel just out.
- deusum 5y agoProof that copyright and patents stifle innovation?
- lettergram 5y agoI’d argue potentially the opposite is true. Trying to figure out new ways of doing things and new stories likely lead to further innovation. That said it might not lead to the maximum benefits, but it should lead to the maximum diversity.
- gjsman-1000 5y agoFor every good Winnie the Pooh story, there will be a hundred acres of bad stories and questionable-taste material made for it. Expect the furries to have lots of fun with this. Is that innovation? Things are always more nuanced than they appear.
- spoonjim 5y agoThe furries can and do write Winnie the Pooh stories today. Nobody will stop them because those stories didn't have any sizable income potential to begin with. They live on furry web sites that don't catch the attention of IP lawyers. What public domain enables is for-profit adaptations of Winnie the Pooh.
- Kaze404 5y agoThings you personally dislike are innovation as well.
- echelon 5y agoThe big question: what happens when Mickey Mouse enters public domain in 2024? Will people be able to make Mickey cartoons independent of and without the blessing of Disney? Will they be able to sell merchandise? Market themselves using the Mouse? Incorporate the character in their logos? Does this only apply to the "Steamboat Willie" version of Mickey? Can one use artistic license to get closer to modern Mickey without running afoul of modern copyright? Pooh is one thing, but Mickey going public domain will be monumental.
- Rebelgecko 5y agoTrademark and copyright are separate. So it's legit to stand outside of Disneyland selling Blu-rays of Steamboat Willie, but there are still limitations on how you can use the character Some level of remixing/reediting the movie is probably OK, but I'm not sure where the line gets drawn
- kibwen 5y agoAFAIK Disney still has a trademark on Mickey Mouse, which will last as long as Disney successfully continues to enforce it; losing the ability to control the reproduction of Steamboat Willie doesn't lose them that trademark. (IANAL)
- gjsman-1000 5y agoLess than you think: I can’t remember the report, but Disney said the Pooh franchise had four times as much revenue as Mickey Mouse at least in recent years.
- chrisseaton 5y ago> Will people be able to make Mickey cartoons independent of and without the blessing of Disney? Note that Mickey Mouse is trademarked and will undoubtedly still be trademarked come 2024.
- bencollier49 5y agoI believe that there's some disquiet about trademarks being used to essentially create an unlimited copyright on characters.