For the first Time in 20 years the copyright of works of art are on new year’s day in the USA drives off. Movies, poems, books and pieces of music that were published in the year 1923, are in the public domain. In the next few years, the first Mickey mouse could be films, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is freely accessible. the Jakob Maurer
fidget At the hands of a giant clock on a skyscraper, is finally completely harmless – at least with regard to copyright. Because in a for decades a one-time procedure in the US, at a stroke, a mass of works of art are freely accessible, including the silent movie classic “safety last!” with Harold Lloyd’s famous scene.
For the first Time in 20 years, expired on new year’s day in the US, the copyrights of many works of art. With the turn of the year, films, poems, books and pieces of music that were released in the year of 1923 passed into the Public Domain (public domain). Everyone is allowed to do so the right to reproduce the works of art freely and sell, publicly perform, as well as artistic work and process, such as in a theater piece. To include a new copyright-free works of Charlie Chaplin’s silent film classic, “The pilgrim,” and novels like Agatha Christie’s “murder on the Golf course”. Particularly important this process is, because it happens for the first time in the digital age: Using Internet platforms such as YouTube or Google Books, you could soon be worldwide and free of charge.
Even Mickey mouse should be freely accessible
Originally, the works should have been released already in 1999, 75 years after its publication. However, a year earlier, the U.S. Congress had extended with the enactment of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act the copyright by 20 years, and the process by up to 2018 “frozen”. Before 2019, the last date is more than 21 years. At that time, the US had been-Werke from 1922 is released. “The drought is over,” commented the centre for the study of the public domain in North Carolina the process on his website.
The law, which has led to this 20-year-long common freedom break, was named posthumously after the US singer-Congress-politician Sonny Bono, who had fought for an extension of copyright. The leg received but Amen Mickey mouse protection act and, Lex, Mickey, as critics saw it as a strategy of Disney, the Copyright to the world’s commercially successful cartoon mouse. Opponents saw it as the right to freedom of expression is limited.
it Should now remain in the control of in 1998, could also be Mickey mouse, at least in his earliest appearance soon in the public domain. On 1. January 2024 from running, therefore, the copyright for the cartoon films, “Plane Crazy” and “Steamboat Willie” in 1928, to be published. In them has Mickey mouse made their first appearance.
From many sides, it was feared, therefore, that before the expiration of 20 years on renewal of the US copyright law would be a fight. However, the Congress did not change the determination. The consequence of this is that in the United States in the following years, always for new year’s day, works of 95 years ago is to be released in two years, about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” and in the 2030s, the Comic book superheroes Superman and Batman.
internationally celebrated new year already as Public Domain Day as a day of public freedom. In Germany, the copyright of works of art on death is governed by the year of the Creator: It ends 70 years after the death of the sole author. 2019, among other things, works of the comedian Karl Valentin, and the “roving reporter” Egon Erwin Kisch in the public domain.
