1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum Here. Lots of people celebrate on January first 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: in the standard Gregorian calendar. It's the first day of 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: the new year, a chance for new beginnings, a new 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: chapter in our story, if you will. But that can 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: become quite literal for people who celebrate public Domain Day. 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: Every year. On January first, a trove of creative works 8 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: copyrighted about a century ago in America enter the public domain. 9 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: That basically means that these works could now be shared, performed, reused, repurposed, 10 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: or sampled without having to obtain permission from the copyright 11 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 1: holder or pay anything for using the work. Although copyright 12 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: law helps protect artists' intellectual property and that they are 13 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,279 Speaker 1: the only ones who can make money off of it, 14 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: a public domain and that after enough time has passed, 15 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: other artists are able to draw from the collective imagination 16 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: of our society and build on it. Twenty twenty four 17 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: is actually a banner year for public domain because it's 18 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: the year that Disney's Steamboat Willie cartoon featuring the first 19 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, became free for use. 20 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: The cartoon debuted in nineteen twenty eight. That's ninety five 21 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: years ago. It was originally supposed to enter the public 22 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: domain in nineteen eighty four after a fifty six year 23 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 1: copyright term, but Disney and a bunch of other large 24 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: creative companies lobbied Congress to extend that term for twenty years, 25 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: and Congress did twice. But its term is finally up. 26 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: This doesn't mean that you can now create a new 27 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: work with Mickey and try to pass it off as 28 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: being from Disney, and it doesn't mean that you can 29 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: use versions of these characters from later works that are 30 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: still under copyright. For example, Mickey from the Sorcerer's Apprentice 31 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: segment in Fantasia is still off limits until that film's 32 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: turns up in another decade or so, but the steamboat 33 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: designs of these buddies are now up for grabs. In 34 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: addition to Steamboat Willie, lots of other films, books, plays, 35 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: and musical compositions from nineteen twenty eight are now fair game, 36 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: including Buster Keaton's film The Cameraman, D H. Lawrence's novel 37 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: Lady Chatterley's Lover, Robert Frost's poetry collection West running Brook, 38 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: A Milns House at Pooh Corner, which introduces the character Tigger, 39 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: the original German version of Bertold Brex and Kurt Weile's 40 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: play The Threepenny Opera, which is where the song Mac 41 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,639 Speaker 1: the Knife comes from, and songs like when You're Smiling 42 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: and I Want to Be Loved by You. When I 43 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 1: say songs here, I mean just the written composition. There's 44 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: a different copyright law for sound recordings. As of now, 45 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,119 Speaker 1: those enter the public domain a full one hundred years 46 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 1: after their publication, so in twenty twenty four we're getting 47 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: recordings from nineteen twenty three. This is due to the 48 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,679 Speaker 1: fact that copyright law for audio recordings used to be 49 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: handled on a state and local basis, leading to a 50 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: lot of messy confusion, which the national government tried to 51 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: correct with the Copyright Act of nineteen seventy six and 52 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,519 Speaker 1: the Music Modernization Act of twenty eighteen, which is when 53 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: we landed on the current one hundred year term. It's 54 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: going to change in twenty forty seven, but that's a 55 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: different episode. To grasp what public domain means, it helps 56 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: to understand what copyrights are and why they exist in 57 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: the US. The public policy behind copyright and patent protection 58 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: actually originates in the Article one, Section eight, Clause eight 59 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: of the Constitution, commonly known as the Intellectual Property Clause, 60 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: which grants Congress the power a quote to promote the 61 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: progress of science and useful arts by securing, for limited 62 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: times to authors and inventors the exclusive right of their 63 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: respective writings and discoveries. The purpose of copyright law is 64 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: to encourage and incentivize writers and inventors to keep creating 65 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,799 Speaker 1: new works by giving them exclusive rights to their works. 66 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: This means giving them exclusive rights for a limited time 67 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: and distinguishing between intellectual property and other types of property 68 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: such as houses or other things that consumers can own. 69 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,760 Speaker 1: For the article. This episode is based on How Stuff Works. 70 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: Spoke with Esteon to a professor of law at West 71 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: Virginia University School of Law who is taught courses in copyright, 72 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: trademark and patent law. He explained about intellectual property quote 73 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: with music, it's particularly easy to understand because of digital transfer. 74 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: If I'm listening to a Taylor Swift song, does that 75 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: stop you from listening to a Taylor Swift song? No? 76 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: But if I'm enjoying my house, you can't enjoy this 77 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: same house because there's only one house. We have to 78 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: create a system to protect intellectual property that's different from 79 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: real property and moveable personal property. Two continued. For Taylor 80 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 1: Swift to create a song, it's very expensive, right, but 81 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: she has to put in the effort and time to 82 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: make the recording. But then I can make an MP 83 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: three of it and send it off to the world. Similarly, 84 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: it costs drug companies hundreds of millions of dollars in 85 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: R and D costs, as well as going through the 86 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: FDA approval process to bring a drug to market. If 87 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: a second drug company could simply copy the drug, no 88 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 1: firm would ever invest in creating a drug in the 89 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: first place. Patents play a role to allow companies to 90 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: recuperate their initial investments while making a profit by limiting competition. 91 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: So without copyright protection to ensure that Taylor Swift gets 92 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 1: paid for her songs, it would be harder for her 93 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: to earn a living as a performer. Who knows she 94 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,919 Speaker 1: might even still be working at our father's Christmas tree farm. Similarly, 95 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: without patent protection for drugs, which lasts for twenty years 96 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: after a drugs invention in the US, a life saving 97 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: and life changing medications might not be developed here. Two said, 98 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: as a society, we say that we want more Taylor 99 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: Swift songs. So what we're going to do is give 100 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 1: her that protection so that she could make putting out 101 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: songs her life's work. One important thing about copyrights is 102 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: that they not only protect the original work, but restrict 103 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: other's ability to create derivative works that are based upon it, 104 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: even if they're in other media. So if you've written 105 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: a book, I couldn't make a movie based on it 106 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: unless you gave me permission. Also, while a copyright for 107 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: a particular book or film mixpire, the creator may still 108 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: hold rights to the characters, as with Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey 109 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: and other exclusions of a too. Two said, there's something 110 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: called the sena fair doctrine, which means that there are 111 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: stock characters present in every story, like the comic relief 112 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: character who's a bubbling buffoon. Right, that's fair game to 113 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: use if you've got to copyright on Harry Potter. Does 114 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: that mean that all boy wizards are copyrighted or all 115 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: stories with a wizard in it? No, But the closer 116 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: you get to a boy wizard who fights an evil 117 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: wizard that has seven lives. That looks a little bit closer, 118 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: and if that boy wizard goes to Hogwarts, okay, that 119 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 1: clearly is the expression that's protected. Originally, copyrights were relatively 120 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: short in duration. The Copyright Act of seventeen ninety, for example, 121 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: gave copyright owners control over their works for fourteen years, 122 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: with an opportunity to renew for another fourteen But over time, 123 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: the number of years that the work can be protected 124 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: has increased, giving creators more time to profit from having 125 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: a monopoly over their work. In nineteen ninety eight, Congress 126 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:09,600 Speaker 1: passed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, named after 127 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: the late singer and songwriter turned politician. This allowed for 128 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: an author's copyright to last for the person's lifetime plus 129 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: seventy years, while copyrights held by corporations last one hundred 130 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: and twenty years after creation or ninety five years after publication, 131 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: whichever comes sooner. Some argue that this length of time 132 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: is stifling to the creativity of new artists, and point 133 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: to the tendency of companies like Disney to profit vastly 134 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: off of works already in the public domain, like Hans 135 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, published in eighteen thirty seven, 136 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,199 Speaker 1: or The Snow Queen, which was the inspiration for Frozen, 137 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: published in eighteen forty four. Because just as copyrights encourage 138 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: people to be creative, so does the public domain. An 139 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: imaginative person can write a sequel or prequel to a 140 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: classic novel using the same characters as the original, or 141 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 1: they can do mashups of the classics, such as inserting 142 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:11,440 Speaker 1: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein's Monster into a Jane Austen story, or 143 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: put a version of Frankenstein's Monster into an original work, 144 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: as happened in the recent film Poor Things. Though to note, 145 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 1: if someone merely alters or adds to the original work, 146 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: they can only seek copyright protection for the new material, 147 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: not the entire piece. Once a copyright expires, that creative 148 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: work is available for free to anyone who wants to perform, publish, 149 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: or broadcast it. That's a big benefit to society because 150 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:44,359 Speaker 1: community theaters can show movies for free, and youth orchestras 151 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:49,559 Speaker 1: can perform music without paying licensing fees. Similarly, publishers can 152 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: put out new editions of classic novels with new illustrations 153 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:57,079 Speaker 1: or annotations, and online archives can offer public domain books 154 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 1: in their entirety for free to the public. However, all 155 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: of this is assuming that a copy of the working 156 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: question has survived the long waiting period for it to 157 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,559 Speaker 1: come into the public domain. Last year, two classic films, 158 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: the vampire movie London After Midnight, which starred Lon Cheney, 159 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: and The Way of All Flesh, for which Emil Jennings 160 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 1: got the best actor Oscar both came up for free use, 161 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: but as far as we know, no one will get 162 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: a chance to use them or screen them because they've 163 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: been lost. Only still photos shot during filming remain from 164 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: London After Midnight, and just a few fragments of film 165 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: remain from the Way of All Flesh. This ties into 166 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: one of the arguments for shortening that copyright term. The 167 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: physical media that films and music used to be recorded 168 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: on are fragile, and sometimes copyright law prevents them from 169 00:10:50,760 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: being restored and thus archive before they literally disintegrate. Today's 170 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: episode is based on the article what does it mean 171 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: when a book, movie your song enters the public Domain 172 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: on HowStuffWorks dot com written by Patrick J. Kiger. Brain 173 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:11,719 Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot 174 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 1: Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts 175 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 176 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.