
Artists and writers whose works enter the public domain in 2018 - benbreen
http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/class-of-2018
======
sjs382
I've had this Slashdot comment bookmarked since 2009:
[https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1306857&cid=2873632...](https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1306857&cid=28736323)

    
    
      In the USA Copyright lengths are very simple. Anything
      older than Mickey Mouse is public domain and everything
      else is still copyrighted.
    

Edit: Typo--fixed the year.

~~~
beloch
Honestly, I wish they'd just issue a special exception for Disney instead of
screwing up the entire system because they don't want to appear nakedly
corrupt.

~~~
diggernet
My idea for Disney-appeasement without special exemptions: Let copyrights be
extended for 14 years at a time, indefinitely, with the requirement of
registration and a token filing fee. Anyone who cares can keep their copyright
for as long as they want, if they just care enough to fill out a 1 page form.
Anyone who doesn't care that much (or no heirs, or whatever), the copyright
expires. Bonus side effect: for everything still in copyright, there is a
database you can look up current contact info for licensing.

------
Joakal
Copyright schemes are almost always for the distributors, not the creators.

Let creators enjoy the full benefits of copyright by returning the ownership
back to creator after 10 years.

After a decade, it is expected that creators will be able to command bigger
cut as compensation for popular works and thus, inspire more creators to
publicly deliver works due to the expectation of more appropriate and fair
level of compensation from interested distributors. Otherwise, creators are
discouraged from independent creation of works if it's believed that they will
suffer perpetual loss of copyright ownership in exchange for a minuscule
payment.

Similar scheme exists in Europe: [http://evolver.fm/2012/02/29/why-mastered-
for-itunes-wont-de...](http://evolver.fm/2012/02/29/why-mastered-for-itunes-
wont-defuse-a-copyright-time-bomb/)

As it stands, distributors can say "well, sell us the copyright for a dollar
and we might give you a cut. No, not a licence, the copyright! At least you'll
get a lot of exposure? Hehehe"

The current scheme has a lot of economic encouragement for indy creators to
aim for live music, book signings, etc. Where creators need can be present and
needed.

~~~
BeetleB
Hmm... Not sure what to think about this.

The real question is: What role should publishers/distributors have, and be
allowed to have?

From a writer's standpoint, I think it was common _not_ to grant the publisher
a perpetual license. The publisher would offer the author an advance and get
exclusivity. If the book made enough money to cover that advance, the
copyright would revert to the author (publisher may still have license to keep
publishing, but not exclusivity).

In today's world, people can and do make big money self publishing on Amazon,
so the hold publishers had has reduced. The argument makes less sense now than
20 years ago.

If you want to argue that self publishing is still a crap shoot compared to
traditional publishers, then we have to recognize the great value publishers
can bring to the author, and discuss why government intervention (i.e. law) is
necessary in this case.

------
b3lvedere
"Wondering what will enter the public domain through copyright expiration in
the U.S.? Like last year, and the year before… Nothing"

(sigh)

~~~
walterbell
What is expected to happen with US law in 2019 - another Disney extension?

~~~
mortenjorck
I still don't understand why Disney has historically been so paranoid of
Steamboat Willie entering the public domain anyway - Isn't Mickey protected
well enough by trademark (which is perpetual so long as it's defended) that
copyright on a 1928 cartoon is no longer instrumental in maintaining the
proprietary protection of the character?

~~~
e12e
Don't forget that Disney really knows the power of public domain. Could you
imagine if "Snow White" was allowed to enter the public domain? Anyone would
be able to retell that story to their children without worrying about
performing a copyrighted work in public without a licence!

~~~
earenndil
Well they can do that anyway. Snow white is a fairy tale that's existed for
hundreds of years. What's copyrighted specifically is the _disney_ version of
it.

------
alberto_ol
I live in Italy. Can I get (legally) the works of Willa Cather and G. H. Hardy
(the mathematician)? According to
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_in_public_domain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_in_public_domain)
they enter the public domain in 2018 as well.

------
caiob
How exactly does CHE GUEVARA not make it into the picture list?

~~~
justincormack
The most famous picture of him is presumably not out of copyright...

------
wiz21c
Now that Disney absorbed 20th Century Fox, is there a way to know what movies'
copyright are controlled by them ?

------
drpgq
Hoping that Canada sticks with 50.

------
sudouser
shower thought: now that Disney owns Star Wars, it will never be public domain

------
robin_reala
(I often drop this into PD threads so sorry if you’ve seen this before, but)
the Standard Ebooks project[1] that I contribute to takes PD texts, updates
them with better markup and a high quality house style, adds PD cover artwork,
then releases them again back into the public domain. Although I’m outside the
US the project is US-based, so I’d love to see a yearly update interval again
there for both texts to produce and sources of cover art.

[1] [https://standardebooks.org/](https://standardebooks.org/)

~~~
jventura
Thanks for your project, I've downloaded some ebooks and it was great to read
them. I would just like to let you that, at least on my ereader (sony prs t1),
the book covers do not show at all. I looked at the epub source and I think I
saw some svg in the cover, it was probably that.. It's an old ereader..

~~~
robin_reala
Maybe you could file a bug at
[https://github.com/standardebooks/tools](https://github.com/standardebooks/tools)
? Alternatively, I had a similar problem with my Kobo and Calibre, which was
messing with the file in some way even though I had all conversion options
disabled. I just use Finder to copy them over now.

~~~
jventura
Done, thanks!

[https://github.com/standardebooks/tools/issues/63](https://github.com/standardebooks/tools/issues/63)

------
slazaro
Is there a list of all the artists whose works won't but should, thanks to
Disney, corrupt politicians, et al?

~~~
pavlov
Yes, the Center for Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law School publishes
exactly such a list every year.

Here's the one for 2017:

[https://law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2017/pre-1976/](https://law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2017/pre-1976/)

~~~
cableshaft
Once/if Dr. Seuss enters public domain you're going to see that everywhere.
The entire world will turn into a Seuss wonderland. Or at least I can dream it
will.

~~~
1812Overture
Nothing created after Mickey Mouse will ever enter the public domain in the
United States.

