Happy Public Domain Day

[silverscreenselect]

As one who is always on the lookout for bargains, I greet January 1 with joy every year. That's the day that U.S. copyrights expire for all works from 1928 that weren't already in the public domain. The big addition this year is Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie," the first Mickey Mouse cartoon. The second Mickey Mouse cartoon, Plane Crazy, is also in the public domain now. The copyright was supposed to expire 20 years ago under then-current public law, but thanks to a bill named after Representative Sonny Bono (that one), the copyright period was extended from 75 to 95 years, the current length.

This means that anyone can now freely show Steamboat Willie and use the characters of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in their own fiction. However, the current version of Mickey (with a more rounded nose and whites around his eyes) is still protected by copyright and trademark, as is the use of "Mickey Mouse" in connection with amusement parks and many other commercial ventures.

Other notable works entering the public domain this year include:

Books and Plays

Lady Chatterley's Lover D.H. Lawrence
Threepenny Opera Bertold Brecht (original German)
Orlando Virginia Woolf
The House at Pooh Corner A.A. Milne (introduces character of Tigger)
All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque (original German)
Peter Pan J.M. Barrie (although written earlier it was considered "published" for copyright purposes in 1928)
The Mystery of the Blue Train Agatha Christie
Millions of Cats Wanda Gag (the oldest picture book still in print)
The Front Page Hecht/MacArthur
Decline and Fall Evelyn Waugh
Dark Princess W.E.B. Du Bois
West Running Brook Robert Frost
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle Edgar Rice Burroughs
Coming of Age in Samoa Margaret Mead
The Well of Loneliness Radclyffe Hall
Meet the Tiger Leslie Charteris (first appearance of The Saint)
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club Dorothy Sayers

Movies

The Cameraman Buster Keaton
The Circus Charlie Chaplin
The Passion of Joan of Arc Carl Dreyer
Lights of New York (first all-talking feature length movie)
Should Married Men Go Home (first Laurel and Hardy team-up)
In Old Arizona (all talking with singing cowboys)
The Last Command (Emil Jannings first Best Actor Oscar winner)
Street Angel (Janet Gaynor first Best Actress Oscar winner)

Songs

Mack the Knife (German lyrics)
Animal Crackers (Marx Brothers musical songs and lyrics; the play is in the public domain; the movie is not)
Let's Do It Cole Porter
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
When You're Smiling
I Wanna Be Loved by You
Makin Whoopee
I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby

Also, the actual recordings of songs that were made during 1923 are now in the public domain as well. This includes the first recordings of then-popular songs like "Yes, We Have No Bananas." Subsequence recordings of the same songs, however, are not.

[vettech]

I didn't realize The Saint was that old. I would've guessed a couple of decades later.

[jarnon]

As one who is always on the lookout for bargains, I greet January 1 with joy every year. That's the day that U.S. copyrights expire for all works from 1928 that weren't already in the public domain. The big addition this year is Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie," the first Mickey Mouse cartoon. The second Mickey Mouse cartoon, Plane Crazy, is also in the public domain now. The copyright was supposed to expire 20 years ago under then-current public law, but thanks to a bill named after Representative Sonny Bono (that one), the copyright period was extended from 75 to 95 years, the current length.

This means that anyone can now freely show Steamboat Willie and use the characters of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in their own fiction. However, the current version of Mickey (with a more rounded nose and whites around his eyes) is still protected by copyright and trademark, as is the use of "Mickey Mouse" in connection with amusement parks and many other commercial ventures.

"Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" is capitalizing on "Steamboat Willie" in the public domain.