Current Events > What will you do when Lord of the Rings hits public domain?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm writing the filmic adaptation of my original story of Aragorn's lineage and it's downfall/redemption right now.

Gimli-themed fleshlights

Billyionaire posted...

I'm writing the filmic adaptation of my original story of Aragorn's lineage and it's downfall/redemption right now.

Not read this, I can tell you that

Bearded dwarf lady porn

doesn't it get renewed if adaptations of the original keep being released tho?

MarcoRubio posted...

Not read this, I can tell you that

Of course you won't. Filmic adaptation. Apparently reading's not your strong suit...

Go to work for WotC and properly publish an edition of D&D with Hobbits instead of Halflings.

Billyionaire posted...

Of course you won't. Filmic adaptation. Apparently reading's not your strong suit...

No studio is gonna buy your shitty screenplay

Naysaspace posted...

doesn't it get renewed if adaptations of the original keep being released tho?

There's a limit to how long you can renew copyright.

Cook up a version using DC characters

Frodo and Sam romance fan fiction, it's going to blow everyone's mind when I point out those subtle hints in the movies that they had a thing for each other.

MarcoRubio posted...

No studio is gonna buy your shitty screenplay

My talents writing in Tolkien's universe have far and away surpassed yours or anyone else's attempts at writing.

Have Sam and Frodo engage in 289 pages of nonstop sex

gunplagirl posted...

Have Sam and Frodo engage in 289 pages of nonstop sex

I'm 100% positive Chuck Tingle has already written this and is just waiting for the rights to expire.

I'll make my own Lord of the Rings movie, with blackjack, and hookers.

bknight posted...

Frodo and Sam romance fan fiction, it's going to blow everyone's mind when I point out those subtle hints in the movies that they had a thing for each other.

subtle?

Are we still alive then?

Naysaspace posted...

doesn't it get renewed if adaptations of the original keep being released tho?

No, that's why certain early iterations of Winnie the Pooh just hit public domain recently. The original Mickey Mouse from steamboat Willie is two years from being in there now too.

Foppe posted...

Are we still alive then?

2049. We'll all be crotchety old men and women but probably still alive.

Mickey Mouse is going to be even more insane

Tyranthraxus posted...

I'm 100% positive Chuck Tingle has already written this and is just waiting for the rights to expire.

Have you ever actually seen a book by him? They're like 20 pages lol.

Bad_Mojo posted...

Mickey Mouse is going to be even more insane

The "Disneyland Memorial Orgy" will be nothing compared to it.

Ahh yes I will write about Aragorn's tax policies and how he killed little baby orcs in their craddles

gunplagirl posted...

Have you ever actually seen a book by him? They're like 20 pages lol.

Yeah but he makes like a new one every day.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

No, that's why certain early iterations of Winnie the Pooh just hit public domain recently. The original Mickey Mouse from steamboat Willie is two years from being in there now too.

Really? So Mickey will seriously be public domain?

Rathinor posted...

Really? So Mickey will seriously be public domain?

Steamboat Willie being public domain isn't the same thing as Mickey mouse being public domain. Furthermore, Disney has more or less trademarked Everything about mickey so if you want to make a cartoon featuring Mickey mouse you're going to have to make it look sufficiently different from Disney to avoid being sued.

Tyranthraxus posted...

if you want to make a cartoon featuring Mickey mouse

So long as you use the version of the character from Steamboat Willie, you're in the clear. Certain traits and design changes later on (like the color of his face, shape of his eyes, etc.) will still be under copyright because the time hasn't lapsed on the updated copyrights.

But the name "Mickey Mouse," and his specific appearance/traits from Steamboat Willie, will enter the public domain very soon.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

So long as you use the version of the character from Steamboat Willie, you're in the clear. Certain traits and design changes later on (like the color of his face, shape of his eyes, etc.) will still be under copyright because the time hasn't lapsed on the updated copyrights.

But the name "Mickey Mouse," and his specific appearance/traits from Steamboat Willie, will enter the public domain very soon.

You know.

It would be like endless orgasms for days if they added an actual Steamboat Willie level to Cuphead with Mickey Mouse as the boss.

Tyranthraxus posted...

It would be like endless orgasms for days if they added an actual Steamboat Willie level to Cuphead with Mickey Mouse as the boss.

In give or take two years they could just do that.

It's like The Phantom of the Opera, where anybody can do their spin on it because the setting, characters, and story are all public domain (the original written work is from 1910), but the specific songs from the 1986 musical are still protected because they were created much more recently.

Once Steamboat Willie hits that threshold of entering the public domain, it's going to be the wild west out there. I predict a lot of small, targeted lawsuits against people doing the Mickey Mouse chuckle, the little "huh-ha" he does, or just voice impressions in general, because in Steamboat Willie he never spoke.

MarcoRubio posted...

No studio is gonna buy your shitty screenplay

but studios are only buying s***ty screenplays

Same thing I do whenever anything hits the public domain. Absolutely nothing.

My guess is Disney is going to throw several bags money at the government to make sure the copyright legislation is extended 'for a few more years'.

Hobbit erotica.

Hot Shelob on Witchking action.

SoIidLegacy posted...

My guess is Disney is going to throw several bags money at the government to make sure the copyright legislation is extended 'for a few more years'.

No, they realized it's not worth it. They tried before, and it's not going to happen again. The only thing they're losing are the old cartoons. They will always own the character, but the Steamboat Willy era shorts are never going to bring in a substantial profit again, and it would just be a waste of money, even for them.

That's why they've been pushing the black and white style hard in the last several years. They can still capitalize on them through merchandising

Hayame_Zero posted...

No, they realized it's not worth it. They tried before, and it's not going to happen again. The only thing they're losing are the old cartoons. They will always own the character, but the Steamboat Willy era shorts are never going to bring in a substantial profit again, and it would just be a waste of money, even for them.

That's why they've been pushing the black and white style hard in the last several years. They can still capitalize on them through merchandising

"They tried it before"....?

Mate, they did it somewhere around a dozen times. And they aren't doing it at all because of anything to do with their profits being hurt by copycats, they just want to be the only ones that can profit.

ellis123 posted...

"They tried it before"....?

Mate, they did it somewhere around a dozen times.

They campaigned to get the copyright law changed only once in 1998. When did it happen a dozen more times?

Hayame_Zero posted...

They campaigned to get the copyright law changed only once in 1998. When did it happen a dozen more times?

Prior to the current 1978 act there was the copyright act of 1909 that was amended nine times as the behest of Disney (though you could definitely argue at that being one long one, which is frankly what I thought you were talking about), the copyright act of 1976, and then the current 1978 act (so 11 times). In addition, the copyright extension act of 1998 was also Disney. Finally the 1998 petitioning you are talking about also happened in 1992, though to much smaller fanfare.

Also, though you can argue that other big companies were equally a part of their creation things like Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 and DMCA are also somewhat attributable to Disney. I am also not talking about times that Disney actively campaigned for things so much as when they spent their money to bribe politicians into changing existing laws or making new laws for them.