[The Australian Panther]

Is 'Peanuts" PD ?

Link to the book: *** Link No Longer Exists: United Comics 24 ***

[Robb_K]

I would guess that the trademark rights are still owned, but the copyrights to Shultz's 1950 strips should become PD in 2025 in USA under the 75-year rule.  I believe that In Europe (under the 50-year rule), the 1950 strips became PD near the end of the year (October) 2000.  So, I believe the strips left in United Comics first issued before October 1975 are all PD for a European resident or company to use as they please (so long as they don't market it, and/or derive income from its use in currently non-PD countries). My guess is that a website operated by an organisation registered as a located in a country where a given property is legally in The Public Domain, is not responsible for people located in countries where that property's copyrights are still in force having access to reading or even copying that property, as long as said website is not deriving income from placing it on The Internet.

[movielover]

No Peanuts are not PD. The offending book is gone.

And the copyright length is 95 years, not 75.

[Captain Audio]

Glad I got this rare opportunity to see his early work.

[Robb_K]

No Peanuts are not PD. The offending book is gone.

And the copyright length is 95 years, not 75.

Thanks for providing that information.  But that is very disheartening.  At 95 years, that means that even a very old person, who is nostalgic about artwork or books from his or her early youth, he or she must pay to see or read it again.  And being that it is not freely available without cost, a lot less younger people get exposed to it. 

That means that the first Peanuts strips from 1950 won't be PD until 2045, long after I am gone from this Earth. 

Will United Comics 24 be uploaded again, with just the Peanuts pages removed?

I understand now, that the USA 95 year law takes precedence over shorter spans under laws of other countries, in the situation in which books and artwork is made available on The Internet to anyone in any country with access to The Internet, regardless of the location of the Website's provider. 

[Captain Audio]

The 95 year term of protection is for works made after january first of 1978. I was not able to wade through the laws to find out if works before that date have the same time period of protection.

Years ago I ran across PD downloads of a number of Jack London storues. It was explained that these were in public domain due to London having sold his copyrights to the magazine that bought the stories and when that magazine went belly up they failed to extend their copyright claims on these specific works.
So some published works are in a sort of limbo.

[SuperScrounge]

I believe that stuff that was under protection when the Sonny Bono extension went into effect all had the copyrights extended.

[Captain Audio]

I believe that stuff that was under protection when the Sonny Bono extension went into effect all had the copyrights extended.

Was that anything like the Austin Powers extension?

[SuperScrounge]

Oh, behave!