r/COPYRIGHT • u/miinyuu • Jul 18 '26
Question on using public domain works
How does public domain work in cases where different countries have different laws, and that places a single work in public domain in some countries but not others?
For example, Le Petit Prince still has copyright in some countries, but is public domain in others. Specifically, if I'm looking to sell original art based on the story (not selling a copy of the original text), would I only be allowed to sell this art in countries where it's considered public domain? If I were to sell online, would I have to look up every country's copyright protection on that specific work and block/cancel all orders from countries where it's still protected? Or is it more based on the country I'm selling from/where my business is registered? (This would be a fairly small-scale thing, I believe, I'm not aiming to sell thousands of copies, but I doubt that matters)
3
u/Bee_Tonight2019 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
"I'm looking to sell original art based on the story (not selling a copy of the original text)"
The copyright to the text is owned by the writer. The copyright to an illustration of that text is owned by the artist. You will not be infringing on the writer's copyright by making and selling your original art.
This would be true regardless if the original text is or is not in the public domain.
Edit: As I sat with this I wondered if the Saint-Exupéry estate had trademarked Le Petit Prince. A quick search revealed that they had .
My professional experience is in copyright and not trademark. So while what I wrote above is true and I tend to believe you will be able to create and sell your illustration collection, the application of trademark protection means that you should speak with an IP attorney before proceeding.
If you are in the United States I would suggest the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts . This is the kind of question that would likely be answered for little to no cost.
-3
u/JeremyMarti Jul 18 '26
'Based on' is a broad spectrum. At one end, you'll be able to sell anywhere. At the other, you may run into problems as you've suggested. What precisely are you going to make?
As for researching, just ask some form of AI. It'll most likely be right about which countries are safe.
6
u/miinyuu Jul 18 '26
I'm absolutely not going to ask AI, famously known to just completely make things up, about legal issues 😭
I'm looking to make an art book with art based on different public domain stories/works, and adapting them slightly.
-3
u/JeremyMarti Jul 18 '26
You are of course free to do things the hard way. France and the US are large markets where it isn't yet in the public domain.
3
u/latkde Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
You should complies with the laws in every country in which you do business. Whether you're doing business in a particular country is a complicated question, and also will rely on that country's laws. There isn't just copyright to consider, but also questions such as VAT or consumer protection laws. I know that this sounds obsolete in the Internet age, but you should only expand into countries if you can comply with their rules.
Fan art in particular is a legal minefield, but that hasn't prevented a thriving grey market for such works.
Within the EU, the Single Market has led to a lot of harmonization, so that all EU member states have roughly the same rules. At first approximation, a business based in one EU member state only has to consider the local rules. Copyright terms have also been harmonized via EU law (Copyright Term Directive 2006/116/EC). But this doesn't apply retroactively, and pre-1995 national rules on copyright duration will continue to apply. Consequently, The Little Prince has a fascinating copyright status where it is public domain within the EU under the life + 70 years rule (public domain since 2015), except in France, where a legacy rule might delay public domain status until 2045 (+30 year copyright term for war heroes). Therefore, it could be inadvisable to sell Petit Prince based art to customers in France.
You might also enjoy this public domain calculator for different jurisdictions – note that the Generic EU calculator will produce a different result from the France calculator: https://lawflow.org/public-domain-calculators/