[narfstar]

I did not like Superpowers but really don't like Dark Circle. I always wondered why there was no cent key. There is some ctl alt or something that I don't know to get it.

[silversabrewolf]

I checked the copyright records for some of the books JVJ mentioned and found this: Supersnipe Comics: issues renewed from October 1942 (v. 1 no. 6); see 1969 , Red Dragon Comics: issues renewed from January 1943 (v. 1 no. 5), Red Dragon: issues renewed from February 1948 (v. 1 no. 2), Super-Magic Comics: issues renewed from May 1941 (v. 1 no. 1); see 1968, True Sport Picture Stories: issues renewed from February 1942 (v. 1 no. 5); see 1968, and Pioneer Picture-Stories: issues renewed from 1941 (v. 1 no. 1); see 1968. So all of them were renewed, but have not checked every series that SS published.  Here's the link http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/firstperiod.html

  If they were renewed in 1968 wouldnt they fall under the old law and require a manual not automatic renewal per the 1992 statutes with anew registration in 1996?

[John Kerry]

Back in the day, comic books had to be renewed 28 years after publication. See 1969 means you have to look in the 1969 copyright renewals book to see the specifics. As for when they will expire, most likely never, as Congress gives in every time the mega media wants the copyright extended

Actually the driving force behind the continual extension of copyright was Sonny Bono and when he passed away his wife. Every time his songs were getting close to public domain he persuaded his fellow congressmen to pass a law extending copyright. 

[crashryan]

Yeah, ol' Sonny has a lot to answer for in creating today's ridiculous copyright laws. The Disney company was another big player, buying an eternal lock on Mickey Mouse. Also, the lawyer who cooked up with the Charles Chaplin family the idea of "owning" a dead celebrity's image/work deserves a skewer of his own.

[John Kerry]

The other copyright activist was Jack Valenti who has also passed on. The Supreme Court also has in the past said copyright cannot be extended indefinitely, but it also has never said what the limit should be.

[Yoc]

I honestly think the current climate in DC and their big business lobby groups art totally hostile towards the idea of the Public Domain.  I'd be shocked if anything new enters the public domain in the USA ever again and given how hard they pushed in the still possible Trans Pacific Partnership they want the rest of the world to follow their rules.

-Yoc

[John Kerry]

Read some interesting commentary last night. With Trump pulling the US out of the TPPF it means China is in a position to become the dominant economic player in that region. They are not nearly as tough on copyright as the US. Given Trump's attitude towards trade you could find that after four (or eight) years o that if the US wants in on anything it may have to accept what the rest of the world has decided is proper copyright terms.