“Forgotten Hollywood”- Public Domain Hit Parade…
Manny P. here…
“`With the arrival of 2024, a batch of media are now available in the public domain, including Mickey Mouse as Steamboat Willie, Peter Pan and Tigger. Classic cinema, standards, books and other artistic works, published in 1928, are entering the public domain, as well, such as Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus, Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman, The Man Who Laughs, The Crowd, literary versions of All Quiet on the Western Front and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Cole Porter’s Let’s Do It, The Threepenny Opera (Mack the Knife), Yes We Have No Bananas, and the live stage version of the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers.
“`According to copyright laws at the time, Steamboat Willie was scheduled to enter the public domain in 1984, fifty-six years after it was released. That timeline was lengthened several times, most recently in 1998 by a congressional act that established the current ninety-five-year limit. The Walt Disney Company lobbied hard for an extension, known famously as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act.
“`Works enter public domain when their copyrights expire, and they are free for use without permission. Trademark law, however, is different. Trademarks cover words, symbols, designs or expressions that identify brands. And they do not expire after a set period of time. That is the so-called turkey in the straw.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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