The Bullpen

[Andrew Tom]

Can anyone tell me how I find out if a character is classified as public domain?   

I'm sure that Alan Moore would know, but...

Thanks for the help in advance all.

--Andy

[Matt H.O.W.L.]

I would Google something like: "public domain comic characters"
It's so crazy, it just might work. 

[elemental]

I believe that published or copyrighted works prior to 1923 are public domian. After that its a bit more complex

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.pdf

However it is different between different countries as Williingham found out with Fables, he wanted to use Peter Pan in a significant role and while he was public domain just about everywhere he wasn't public domain in England and therefore changed this aspect of the book.

[Dean S.]

The term "public domain" is very misleading.  When it is tossed about, I think people are usually referring to copyrightable works and it is true that copyrights do expire.  If you want to figure out when a particular copyrighted work expires....have fun.  It is about as clear as mud, but there are flowcharts out there.  This utility on the Rutgers website is useful: http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~lesk/copyrenew.html

BUT....the other thing to remember is that trademarks can be renewed in perpetuity forever as long as the owner of the mark is still using it. 

So, even though some old issues of Batman will someday exhaust their copyright protections, all that will mean is that you or I could reproduce an exact copy of the Batman issue and sell it.  Kinda like anyone can print and sell copies of Moby Dick. 

It doesn't mean that we can start creating new stories featuring Batman, Bruce Wayne, Gotham, Robin, the various Bat-symbols and all other manner of DC-owned trademarks (both registered and unregistered).  Those trademarks will endure for as long as anyone cares about comics. 

So, the best examples of things that anyone can play with are going to be characters from mythology and fairy tales. 

I don't really understand the attraction to characters/stories in the public domain.  Even if you can create a great story about Zeus, why not use that same story with a newly created character that you can protect? 

[slurmo]

For a quick idea of what is in Public domain check out Dynamite's Project Superheroes line for characters and Erik Larsen's comics. Most notably the Next Issue Project editions. There's a TON of characters out there that are just begging to be used.

I want to use them too, but I have no reference to those old comics so I have no stories for them.

after checking that stuff out it'll be easier to do the research on the specific characters

[Wormworth]

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Public_Domain_Super_Heroes

There's a site that lists public domain superheroes and such - though there are Captain Marvel (DC one) and Blue Beetle listed as public domain characters.

On the one hand I understand the inclination to take old characters and re-invent them in the same way that Alan Moore and the bunch have done. It may give something to build upon, some framework, and maybe create some excitement for the creator and the audience  but on the other hand, like Dean S points out, you can just as well create your character from the ground up - you can be influenced by fictional characters, even those copyrighted, but you don't have unnecessary baggage, and you can try and be as subversive and innovative as you wish.

[Andrew Tom]

Lot's of good info in here guys.  It was more curiousity on my part than anything else.  I'm a big fan of "the Shadow" and someone told me that there are some Shadow stories that are public domain, but I didn't think that "the Shadow" himself was public domain.

More just wondering how this whole "public domain" thing works.

Karma to all.

--Andy

[jdudley]

I believe there is a rule which states that any character is public domain X number of years after said character's creator is deceased. And I want to say it's 100 years? But I have no idea where this knowledge is coming from. I may have heard it from a credible source at one point, or some crackpot who had no idea what he or she was talking about. Heck, it may have even just been from some dream I had!
How Marvel and DC will keep these characters as their own intellectual property is already an insanely litigious challenge though, I'm sure it will only get more bloody as the decades go by.

[Dean S.]

I believe there is a rule which states that any character is public domain X number of years after said character's creator is deceased. And I want to say it's 100 years? But I have no idea where this knowledge is coming from. I may have heard it from a credible source at one point, or some crackpot who had no idea what he or she was talking about. Heck, it may have even just been from some dream I had!
How Marvel and DC will keep these characters as their own intellectual property is already an insanely litigious challenge though, I'm sure it will only get more bloody as the decades go by.

That's the point I was making above.  All copyrighted works will enter the public domain at some point in time.  That means that someday you could make a direct copy of Action Comics #1 and sell it.  But, DC will be able to continually renew their trademark on Superman every 10 years merely by paying a ~$2K fee and demonstrating that the trademark is still in use for the class of products in question: ( & about 15 more that I found in 3 seconds on the USPTOs website).  The Superman trademark won't go away until DC can't demonstrate that it has used the word "superman" in a comic in the last 10 years.  The bar for proving "use" is pretty low too.  They could stop publishing a Superman title and just have Batman muse once in a word bubble that, "I miss Superman!" and that would be enough.

So, even when a bunch of early Action Comics issues enter the public domain and you'd be able to publish something like an omnibus, you still wouldn't be able to write a new creative work using the trademark "Superman". 

And....I gotta be honest.....I don't see why this is a bad thing.  It's just how trademarks work.  You never hear anyone clamoring that the McDonald's logo or the Nike Swoosh should enter the public domain.  It's the same thing.

[john_k]

I believe there is a rule which states that any character is public domain X number of years after said character's creator is deceased. And I want to say it's 100 years? But I have no idea where this knowledge is coming from.

Characters never fall into public domain if they are profitable enough. Laws mutate quite predictably when money walks in the room.

See the 'Mickey Mouse Protection Act'

Lawmakers can cover their butts too:

Both houses of the United States Congress passed the act as Public Law 105-298 with a voice vote, making it impossible to determine who voted for or against.

C.R.E.A.M.!

[AztecLos]

io9 recently did an article on some public domain characters that pretty much anyone can use.
http://io9.com/5796725

[evaD]

io9 recently did an article on some public domain characters that pretty much anyone can use.
http://io9.com/5796725

Thanks! Great article.