copyright

[Cinemaster]

I think it's 75 years but i'll check and get back to you.

[miker]

thanks to disney's lobbyists it could soon be 100 years after death.

but i don't think that affects things which have already fallen into the public domain, only things which are soon to (like mickey mouse) - disney died in 1966.

[GREATwarEAGLE]

copyright

[Actor]

When works pass into public domain!

[Actor]

United States copyright laws are a mess.

There is only one sure fire rule in U.S. copyright: If the work was published before December 31, 1923 it is in the public domain.

Not so sure fire but probably a safe bet is: If the work was published or created after December 31, 1963 it is probably not public domain.

Between these two dates you can get a copyright search from the Copyright Office in Washington, D.C. It costs about $70. The report proves nothing except that the work is or is not registered with the Copyright Office. If the search indicates that the work is not registered your next step is to get a copyright report from a lawyer. Two that specialize in this are:
<ul type="square">[*]Thomson and Thomson, Washington, D.C. (800)356-8630[*]Dennis Angel, Scarsdale, NY (914)472-0820[/list]These reports cost around $500.

Even if the Copyright Report indicates that the work is PD there is still the possibility of a claimant coming out of the woodwork. However, with report in hand you can buy Errors and Omissions Insurance. An E&O policy will pay any judgements against you if you are successfully sued.

[Actor]

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thanks to disney's lobbyists it could soon be 100 years after death.
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It is now 95 years after death thanks to the Sonny Bono Act.
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but i don't think that affects things which have already fallen into the public domain,
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Correct. Once public domain, always public domain. Any other rule is really unworkable.

Consider this. The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCully passed into public domain at the end of 1975. In 1978 Congress extended the term of copyright from a max of 56 years to 75 years. Under the new law Zorro would have fallen into PD in 1994. Now suppose you had undertaken a film of Zorro in 1977 in the correct belief that McCully's work was PD. If the act of 1978 was applied retroactively to works that had fallen into PD then you would suddenly (by act of congress) be guilty of copyright infringement. This is why the constitution has a provision against "ex post facto" laws. (ex post facto = after the fact)

There is one famous case of copyright regained after falling into PD: that of the movie It's a Wonderful Life. However, that is actually not a case of copyright restored but rather of a claimant arguing successfully the work was never in PD and he held the copyright.
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only things which are soon to (like mickey mouse) - disney died in 1966.
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When Disney died makes no difference. For reasons I don't understand the copyright on Mickey is held by a corporation, Walt Disney, Inc, not by Disney himself or his estate.

[Queen Frostine]

is it true that after 50 years books are no longer copyright so i could adapt a book written in the 20s???

[bully_the_kid]

maybe you can just work on original stories, etter than adapting books.

[miker]

some more on the mickey mouse thing.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/comment..._sprigman.html
Back in 1998, representatives of the Walt Disney Company came to Washington looking for help. Disney's copyright on Mickey Mouse, who made his screen debut in the 1928 cartoon short "Steamboat Willie," was due to expire in 2003, and Disney's rights to Pluto, Goofy and Donald Duck were to expire a few years later.

===

there's a lot to be said for having your own ideas. for starters, they cost nothing.

[Actor]

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there's a lot to be said for having your own ideas. for starters, they cost nothing.
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Not necessarily true. You may be a great filmmaker but a lousey writer. In fact, not many of the greats wrote their own stuff. Kubrick, Lean, Hitchcock, Peckinpah all relied on other people's material.

Unless you are that very rare bird, a true writer/filmmaker, you had best concentrate on either writing or filmmaking. You cannot shine at one if you zuck at the other.

Bottom line: if you are a great filmmaker but a lousey writer then filming your own stuff is going to cost you.

Stanley Kubrick's first good movie, The Killing, was based on Lionel White's Clean Break, for which Kubrick paid $10,000 for the rights. That's $100,000 in today's money. That's way out of my league so I search the public domain for my material.