Wednesday, January 30, 2019

New Works Reach The Public Domain

In 2019, thousands of artworks and books and more from 1923 are entering the public domain. 

Finally!

This is good news for creators everywhere, even though this should have taken place 20 years ago. I have written elsewhere about Disney and others getting Congress to extend copyright laws from 75 years after published to 95 years.

Unfortunately there is no guarantee Disney will not make an effort to get these works further extended before some of their works reach public domain status.

Ironic, isn't it, considering Disney made their fortune using works from the public domain? 

Here's an interesting article on these new works becoming available and why Disney and others may no longer be able to extend public domain laws.  

 Could Mickey Mouse Reach the Public Domain?