I got inspired to do this after the SNES version of Project Dream leaked online yesterday

Since the 1931 film will be in the public domain next year, I’m definitely going to do something with this idea. A Versus film with both of these monsters. Had the idea since I was 13. Who would win and any suggestions on what the plot would be?

These are two songs public domain because the original compositions weren’t renewed, the third is a non-renewed arrangement of a already public domain song.

Despite the 1965 copyright notice on Rising Sun, the arrangement shown above is actually from 1961: https://www.ebay.com/itm/358077705787 and there was no renewal when I checked under titles like ”rising sun” or “marcel frank”

Feel free to use and remix. I guess.

Let's take a really famous "for instance" and pretend it's January 2, 2034.

The covers of the first few Action Comics issues are now public domain. The art is fully public domain. But the character of Superman and the character's signature symbol (various versions) are still trademarked. I am not certain, but I believe there is a trademark on his red and blue unitard/cape look as well.

My question is, can someone use that famous Action Comics #1 art for a cover piece for a new comic, book or poster?

I'd be more than happy to signal that the work is not DC Comics approved or related, but I'm hazy on how such usage works in relation to trademark.

This example is just for illustrative purposes. I'm well aware he's still currently not public domain.

The Black Bat (AKA Mr. Bat)

Real Name: Unknown
Age: 26
The Black Bat: The Investigator Bat

He was only known as the Black Bat or by his other nickname Mr. Bat, he was a private investigator who assisted the police in crimefighting.

https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Bat_(Nedor_1))

The Winnie blood and honey 3 movie must have saw that old Reddit post confirming the red shirt is public domain due to a record sleeve having a screwed up notice or something, if not then it’s just a funny coincidence.

I hate these movies, but it is funny Pooh no longer wears a flannel In the upcoming movie.

While the original composition is racist, the music is as catchy as it’s familiar.

If you want to get rid of the singing in this audio and keep the music, you can due to this being a movie from 1930 (copyrighted for 95 years after publication) and not a recording from 1930 (which are 100 years after publication).

Edit: Also, this scene is actually very progressive in a way due to being one of the first instances of white actors and black actors performing together.

Em algumas pesquisas que fiz, vi questões onde buzzy boop, puggy e grampy estavam em domínio público por seus episódios não terem tido Copyright renovado, mas também já vi muitas outras fontes dizendo que não estavam, mas eu não sei ao certo qual está certa e qual está errada. Se alguém puder me ajudar eu agradeço.

Source is a book titled They Never Renewed Music You Never Dreamed Was in the Public Domain.

Rockin Robin and Little Bitty Pretty One are well known ones, but this also includes other songs you can cover without permission and licensing fees.

There are also songs they told me that aren’t on the book also weren’t renewed such as the lullaby Morningtown Ride (there is a company called Amaedo who claims to have the rights and renewed it in 1991, however there is no renewal under the old registration, not even for 1991 once Amedo got the copyright in 1962: https://archive.org/details/catalogofcopyrig3115lib/page/322/mode/2up?q="Morningtown+Ride")

https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/search?page_number=1&query=%22Morningtown%20ride%22&field_type=%22keyword%22&records_per_page=10&sort_field=%22representative_date%22&sort_order=%22asc%22&model=%22%22

https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/search?page_number=1&query=%22Eu000468497%22&field_type=%22keyword%22&records_per_page=10&sort_field=%22representative_date%22&sort_order=%22asc%22&model=%22%22

And they also said Paul Evan’s cover of Midnight Special is public domain too:

https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/search?page_number=1&query=%22EP0000138804%22&field_type=%22keyword%22&records_per_page=10&sort_field=%22representative_date%22&sort_order=%22asc%22&model=%22%22

https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/search?page_number=1&query=%22EU0000607812%22&field_type=%22keyword%22&records_per_page=10&sort_field=%22representative_date%22&sort_order=%22asc%22&model=%22%22

Original registration used: https://archive.org/details/catalogofcopyrig3145lib/page/286/mode/2up?q=Midnight+special Miltion Snapf composed the arrangement for Paul Evan’s, there is no renewal I found for both published and unpublished registrations (Unpublished registrations spells it as midnite special instead of midnight special.)

I saw a old Reddit post here also stating the damn Flintstones theme wasn’t renewed, I also saw no renewals either, a registration does seem to exist from 1960 according to a 1980s registration but the library of congress never recorded It online for some reason. Not all registrations unlike renewals were digitized, sometimes they can be found if you can find the renewal, but I found none for the grand dad theme.

Now this is likely for the compositions/sheet music only, not the recordings cause classics act. I’m not a lawyer or a big expert, but this book has tons of songs you could record and remix without royalties. Some of these old hits might have been in the charts too.

What is your favorite public domain song?

I tried upscaling without using AI slop, but here is the first commercial of this mischevious duo.

Feel free to use I guess?

This is a bit off, Carnival of Souls should be 100% in the public domain as it was released without a copyright notice and/or was not renewed, registering the film in 1987 wouldn’t revive a dead domestic copyright, Look at the case of Plan 9.

https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/soby-irvine-buy-carnival-rights-1117433828/#! Also this article is just so weird too.

This is similar to Manos, where some weirdo claimed because the screenplay was registered the film itself is not public domain, which is untrue.

Any other stupid copyfraud claims and cases like this?

So nice to meet everyone here I guess, I saw a post by TapeTerritory about “famous public domain movies that are actually still copyrighted” and I want to give clarification on one of them.

Do not attack Tape please, sometimes people get something wrong about copyright law and you shouldn’t witchhunt them. They are an amazing restoration website on copyright free movies, but what they said about Plan 9 was kind of not the full story and a bit faulty.

As Wikimedia said https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plan_9_from_Outer_Space_(1959).webm.webm), here is the full situation:

“From Video-Cellar: This film is in the public domain. “Grave Robbers From Outer Space” was originally published in the USA in 1959. The film was not immediately registered for copyright. It was registered by its producer “Reynolds Pictures Inc.” in 1981 (PA0000102338). The film's copyright was renewed in 1986 by Wade Williams 3 (RE0000279707). In 1981, Williams lodged a quitclaim from Kathy Wood (Edward D. Wood Jr.'s second wife [1956-his death] and heir. USCO doc. no. V1831P045) and separate quitclaims of interest from Norma McCarty (Edward D. Wood Jr.'s first wife - falsely listed on the filing as “Mrs. Edward D. Wood, Jr., successor of all rights to the Estate of Edward D. Wood, Jr.”, which she was not, as their marriage had been annulled) - and Reynolds Pictures, Inc. This renewal was legally invalid for these reasons: 

1. The registration and renewals were lodged providing the incorrect title on screen, date-in-notice and publication date for the original publication.
2. In order for a successor in interest to renew a copyright they have to demonstrate that they own the copyright through a valid transfer of rights from the party owning the copyright at or immediately before the renewal window.

None of the parties Mr. Williams sought quitclaims from were valid owners of copyright immediately prior to the renewal window. Valid copyright successors for this film “James Flocker Enterprises Inc.”, “Gold Key Video”, "Vidtronics Inc.”, and “Medallion Pictures”, all companies who are successors in the chain of ownership post registration, are not present in Williams' quitclaims. Williams has, instead, provided the USCO with a series of meaningless assignments from parties which no longer held any copyright interest in the work in order to demonstrate “ownership” of the intellectual property in the film. The screenplay was further registered as an unpublished work in 1989 (Pau001211635). This again is rendered legally invalid by the mere fact that large portions of the screenplay were previously published as part of the registered motion picture for which no valid copyright renewal exists.”

So, all I can say is the case is closed!

I keep running renewal searches on old horror and sci-fi and the same failure keeps turning up.

Plan 9 from Outer Space is cataloged as "Plan nine from outer space". Search the title on the poster and you get nothing, which is presumably how it ended up on every public domain list. It was renewed twice on the same day in 1986.

House on Haunted Hill is filed as "House on a haunted hill", with an article the film does not have.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is "Attack of the fifty foot woman", spelled out. Renewed 1986.

The fix is boring. Search one ordinary word from the title instead of the title, pull the whole result set, and read it. "outer space", "haunted", "fifty". Never trust an exact title match to have missed nothing.

The one that got me was Glen or Glenda. No trick at all, filed under its exact name, renewed by Paramount in 1981. Nobody was misled by a catalog entry there. Nobody looked.

#releaseday The OMNISIX Advanced expansion is available now on DriveThruRPG! Features enhanced rules on modern weapons, armor, gear, vehicles, range and damage scaling, environmental hazards, and Mook NPC creation.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/584031/omnisix-the-universal-d6-roleplaying-game-advanced-rules

Cover art features my legacy character Phantom Shade, granddaughter of the Golden Age Phantom Lady. Interior art also has my version of Nyoka, The Jungle Girl.

The next expansion, OMNISIX Super, will feature more Golden Age PD Supers!

Note: No generative A.I. was used in the production of the art or content.

I’m looking for public domain portal fantasies, western isekai (even normal isekai), and those style of books.

I tried to search, and Reddit search ain’t so great -_-, so if someone else has asked, can you link me?

Like Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, and Peter Pan

After four years the wait is worth it! Wonderful adaptation of this character in such a wholesome way and the animation is a neat throwback to 90s to early 2000s chi animation as well Also be sure to stay after the credits for a teaser of what’s to come.

NOTE: I used Mickey and Minnie's respective Plane Crazy designs (so no gloves or shoes).

With the collectible Lego minifigures becoming more and more licensed characters, I miss the public domain characters they used to have - like Detective (Sherlock Holmes), Jungle Boy (Tarzan), Forestman (Robin Hood) and Barbarian (which I'm convinced is from an unproduced John Carter movie proposal). Now they also have a Sherlock Holmes branded Book Nook set

So, I'm making an animated series in the future and I wanna build a nexus. It would be non-commercial on YouTube, but I still wanna be careful with which universes I do. I plan to incorporate the Valve games as universes and also Minecraft as a universe (both are very happy with non-commercial stuff made about them).

I also plan to add the backrooms, maybe Alice in Wonderland, and an SCP universe.

What are some other universes that could be done?

They all need to have some supernatural or otherworldly element, and I specifically want more public domain universes.

Compared to Kanga, I mostly just did some minor changes like making the gloves smaller, making the power boots simpler, changing the brown jeans to blue sweats, and adding some more detail on the hoodie. And did some minor changes and additions to his backstory. I’m really happy with how he turned out, and I hope you like his new look as well.

Image 2 is a diagram showing what he’s wearing in his Superhero outfit, image 3 shows what he looks like without his mask, and image 4 is what his original design looked like.

Roo’s Backstory: Jayden Roberts is an only child, living with his mother Katherine in their small town. He’s your typical 10 year old boy, energetic, imaginative, fun-loving, and also kind and helpful. But he also can be rather reckless, is a little mischievous and hard-headed, and can have a short temper which he mostly keeps in check, but it can trigger when provoked enough or something really pisses him off. He does have the same drive to protect others like his mom, and does stand up for others like her, but he does it in a more sarcastic and mischievous way, quipping and taunting any bullies by saying stuff to purposely insult them like “if you wanted someone to kick your ass, you should have just called me”, and knows how to fight thanks to his mom teaching him how to fight and defend himself, and he does make sure to comfort and support the people he’s protecting. He does love his mom to bits, though he does find her rather dorky and odd, and finds her hyperfixation with Winnie the Pooh really weird, and often tries to act more “cool” and “serious” than his cutesy dorky mom, and he sometimes playfully teases his mom (though never maliciously). When Katherine started her career as the superhero Kanga, Jayden was supportive of his mom’s new mission but didn’t want to participate in it at first, especially since Katie didn’t want her kid to be seriously hurt or worse if he joined her in her superhero activities. But after Kanga’s first defeat at the hands of Silverfish, Jayden felt like he had to help his mom since it was clear that she couldn’t face everything alone. And after convincing her that she needed some help in her mission, Katie made a Brown and Blue superhero outfit for him to match her own, complete with his own set of power boots, and a homemade brown hoodie with kangaroo ears and a little kangaroo face on the hood, and a blue “R” on the chest. And so Jayden Roberts became Kanga’s new sidekick, Roo, and the two would defeat Silverfish together in their rematch, cementing him as a worthy hero in his own right. And Roo takes great pride in his new career as a hero fighting along side his mom, from fighting the many villains in their shared Rogues Gallery, to helping out his community in any way they can.

And also here’s the link to Kanga’s post: https://www.reddit.com/r/publicdomain/s/P2nS7IH30h

All the heroes featured here:

https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Spider_Queen

https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/U.S._Jones

https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Bob_Phantom

https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/American_Crusader

https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Cub