LogFAQs > #931045443

Ogurisama posted...

adjl posted...

That is already the case. IP's expire and become public domain, which is why you don't have to pay Beethoven's estate every time somebody plays Ode to Joy. I believe the time frame is typically around 75 years, though, which obviously means it hasn't applied to any video games yet.

The problem is, that time frame is getting longer and longer every few years, and thats mostly cause of Disney.
So i looked it up, Mickey is public domain in 2024 i believe, so thats coming quick. I wouldnt be surprised if Disney trys to lengthen the time again.

I understand it with Disney. They have actually been producing their content for more than 75 years (Snow White was 82 years ago) and still use a lot of their older stuff today, so they rely on having control over that IP despite how old it is. That's why I think there should be provisions in there for extending copyright if the IP in question does actually get used. To bring it back to video games, I fully expect Mario to still be relevant in 50 years, and I don't think it's unreasonable for Nintendo to retain control over Super Mario Bros because of that (especially where they have been rereleasing it on a regular basis).

Would that mean we'd get games/movies/whatever churned out every X years purely for the sake of maintaining the copyright and not because they're going to be any good? Of course. But it would also mean that stuff that has actually been abandoned would become public domain much faster, which I think would be beneficial.
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