Stop legalized copyright theft

[starscape]

Sherlock Holmes is out of copyright. However, it is also trademarked, meaning that it can't be used on, for example, book titles but can be used in the book text.

Do you mean that the name can't be used at all in a book title, or just without first obtaining permission from the trademark holder? Either way, is this a recent ruling? I've just picked out a couple of books from one of my bookcases, Sherlock Holmes Detected by Ian McQueen, and The Ultimate Sherlock Holmes Encyclopedia by Jack Tracy, and apart from the usual statements about the author's copyright, and the standard restrictions imposed by the publisher, nowhere is there any mention of a blanket restriction on the use of the name Sherlock Holmes being placed on any future author.

It's a minefield. When copyright was in force, the books would have had to get permission from the copyright holder. It was, ooh, maybe about 20-30 years ago Holmes was trademarked and the holders are fairly severe (rightly or wrongly depends on your view) in stopping Holmes appearing on covers. However, you can have the World's Greatest Detective and a bloke in a deerstalker and clay pipe on the cover. Edgar Rice Burroughs is the same situation.

Conan was the very controversial one. A loophole saw a small (IIRC) Swedish company publish a handful of books (11 I believe) to gain copyright in some countries. However, they have been quite vicious in enforcing copyright in even now public domain countries, such as the UK and New Zealand. Who's going to go to court over that if threatened when the big companies don't care over a few dollars or euros.

[AndyB]

Copyrights held by a company do not 'expire', and are passed on to a company which buys up that company.

Not that simple. The copyright in the English text of the hymn "Be thou my vision" expired in 2005, 70 years after the death of the translator, even though the copyright was held by Chatto and Windus and thus Random House. It's the same with any private creative work whose rights are vested in a company - it would be an abuse of rights if by vesting them in a company they could be extended indefinitely.

I'm still very interested as to where it is stated that comic strips created under the auspices of a publishing company can have their copyright renewed beyond the 70 year period after the original writer and artist die under the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. As I currently understand it, a strip drawn by an artist who died in 1952 and whose writer either died first or cannot be identified is now unconditionally in the public domain in the United Kingdom, but the characters themselves may be registered trademarks to whom the publishers have exclusive rights limiting the ability to publish. The Act specifically states that if the writer and author cannot be identified, copyright lasts 70 years after publication.

Conan Doyle's heirs have no rights to his works in the UK, but copyright in all his stories written after 1923 is still held by them in the United States.

[Digifiend]

Sherlock Holmes is out of copyright. However, it is also trademarked, meaning that it can't be used on, for example, book titles but can be used in the book text.

...,Which is, presumably, why DC can publish Captain Marvel stories but not a 'Captain Marvel' comic!

As far as I can tell Winnie the Pooh should be out of copyright in about twelve years as well - in spite of the fact that Disney bought the rights from A. A. Milne's heirs. I wonder how that compares to the situation with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck - or Dennis the Menace and Desperate Dan for that matter?

- Phil R.

Yeah, Marvel own the rights to the Captain Marvel brand and are currently using it on Ms Marvel's comic. DC had to call their Captain Marvel's comic, Shazam. Why they didn't just use (random word) Comics (like Action Comics and Detective Comics) I don't know. Copyright also means that Dennis the Menace can't be called that in the US - because of the other Dennis the Menace of course, who can't be called that here. That's why the Beano menace's cartoons are both called Dennis & Gnasher.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I bow to your superior knowledge , o great ones. At one time, most folks weren't interested in talking in the terms typified above!

[Archamedes]

So the moral of the story is, being honest doesn't work, crime pays so just do what you want.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

the jails are stuffed to the rafters, and the system is looking for ways to cut down on the 1000 quid a week it costs to feed and heat [etc, etc] each inmate.

'Watering down' the seriousness of some crimes is a modern bi-product of this [no, I don't agree with this outlook either!]

[AndyB]

This is an old thread, for which I apologise, but I just uncovered an old email from 2007. This was the official answer when I sent a query to the Patents office, funnily enough about Be Thou My Vision and my own rights should I ever become a published author (which I am, kind of but not really!):

Dear Andy

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the duration of protection for copyright material, please note that I am unable to provide you with any legal advice, however I hope the following information is of use.

The general rule relating to copyright ownership is that the creator/author owns the copyright in the works. However, section 11(2) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 states that:

‘Where a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, or a film, is made by an employee in the course of his employment, his employer is the first owner of any copyright in the work subject to any agreement to the contrary.’

Please see the following link for to view the Act in full: http://www.patent.gov.uk/copy/legislati ... lation.pdf

The duration of copyright work produced during employment remains the same as with any other term of copyright; i.e. duration of a copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work expires at the of the period of 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies. More details regarding term may be accessed via:

http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk ... w_long.htm

I cannot comment on any specific copyright work, but if, as you say, the author of the work died more than seventy years ago, then yes the work would be in the public domain. Please note that if the lyrics and musical composition may have been created by different people, therefore, although the words may be in copyright the music may not.

For further information regarding copyright issues you may wish to visit the following websites:

www.patent.gov.uk

www.intellectual-property.gov.uk

[Marionette]

So technically, EVERY comics blog out there is breaching copyright, even though there's no monetary gain.

I'm not. /smug