History Main / PublicDomainCharacter

** Babbit and Catstello, animated versions of Creator/AbbottAndCostello.

* ComicBook/FunnyMan

* Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian has been public domain in the United Kingdom, and almost everywhere in the EU, since January 2007 (70 years after the death of Creator/RobertEHoward). In Spain, with its "life plus 80" term for creators who died before 1987, it became PD in January 2017. In Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand, all the Conan stories published by Howard in his lifetime had been in the public domain since 1987. In the USA, at least two-thirds of the Conan stories actually by Howard (as opposed to [[PosthumousCollaboration posthumous "collaborations"]] with Creator/LSpragueDeCamp and others) are also in the public domain, since the copyrights were not renewed. However, anyone planning on doing their own version of Conan must be careful not to upset the '''trademark''' holder, [[http://www.conan.com/ip.shtml Conan Properties International, which has defended the mark very energetically]].[[note]]As noted above, ads for Creator/ConanOBrien's new show ''Conan'' contain the notice "CONAN is used with the permission of Conan Properties International LLC.".[[/note]] It should also be noted that many other aspects of the Conan setting (e.g. ''Comicbook/RedSonja'') are not from the original Howard stories and are still under copyright.

* During that same time, Erik Larsen introduced the Golden Age hero Daredevil and his supporting cast, a gang of young boys called The Little Wise Guys, as recurring cast members in ''Comicbook/TheSavageDragon''. His appearance was identical to the Daredevil who appeared in ''Project Superpowers'', but unlike his ''PS'' counterpart, who was mute, Daredevil could talk. The ''PS'' version also was known as "The Death-Defying 'Devil", presumably to avoid confusion with Marvel Comics' ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}''.

* A non-superhero one, ''Comicbook/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' brings together many Victorian and Edwardian literary characters (although, as it moves through the 20th century in later volumes, it increasingly features [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Lawyer-Friendly Cameos]] of characters who ''are'' in copyright).

* Surprisingly enough, ''[[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]]'', out of all characters, but only his appearance in the 1963's commercial "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPNKsgwj8aQ Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown]]", which differs from the mainstream version, which is still copyrighted. His name, of course, is also trademarked, [[WritingAroundTrademarks so you'll probably have to use "Ronald" and "McDonald" (or maybe even "MacDonald", to be even safer) separately.]]

* ''ComicStrip/GnormGnat'' and most of the ''ComicStrip/{{Jon}}'' comic strips made by Creator/JimDavis, since they were released without a copyright notice, as copyrights were required to be written down on a work prior to 1977. This, of course, includes the oldest version of Franchise/{{Garfield}}.[[note]]Keep in mind, though, that "Garfield" is trademarked under the use of Paws, Inc. and Paramount Global/Nickelodeon Group. This means that although this Garfield can legally be used within a work of fiction, it cannot be advertised with his name[[/note]]

Under U.S. law, works first published before 1929 are no longer subject to copyright. Before the 1970s, copyright was not automatic in the United States and most other countries, and it was possible for a copyright to lapse if not registered or renewed in a timely manner, so certain later works are public domain as well. In Europe, the rule is that the author has to have been dead for 70 years[[note]]with the exception of Spain, which has a copyright term of life plus 80 years for creators that died before 1987[[/note]]. The longest copyright term in the world is that of Mexico, in which since 2003, works do not enter the public domain until the author has been dead for ''100 years''[[note]]which is not retroactive; any author who died before 1952 is already in the public domain[[/note]]. France also has a life plus 100 year term for authors who died while serving during World Wars I and II, such as Creator/AntoineDeSaintExupery.

Under the Berne Convention, work-for-hire has a copyright term of 100 years from the date of publication. Additionally, the copyright holder may choose to release it prematurely into the PublicDomain.

* Surprisingly enough, ''[[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]]'', out of all characters, but only his appearance in the 1963's commercial "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPNKsgwj8aQ Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown]]", which differs from the mainstream version, which is still copyrighted. His name, of course, is also trademarked, [[WritingAroundTrademarks so you'll probably have to use "Ronald" and "McDonald" separately.]]

** And while it'll be a couple of years before Popeye goes public domain in the US, all of the original Fleischer cartoon serials have entered the public domain, as well as some of the later Famous Studios shorts.

* ComicStrip/GnormGnat and most of the ComicStrip/{{Jon}} comic strips made by Creator/JimDavis, since they were released without a copyright notice, as copyrights were required to be written down on a work prior to 1977. This, of course, includes the oldest version of Franchise/{{Garfield}}.[[note]]Keep in mind, though, that "Garfield" is trademarked is under use of Paws, Inc. and Paramount Global/Nickelodeon Group. This means that although this Garfield can legally be used within a work of fiction, it cannot be advertised with his name[[/note]]

*** Much like Oswald, Mickey and Minnie's post-1928 designs (save for those in ''[[https://archive.org/details/mickeys-follies-redrawn-and-colorized Mickey's Follies]]'' (1930) and the unofficial short ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseInVietnam'' (1969)[[note]]''WesternAnimation/TheMadDoctor'', while being another short in public domain despite being post-1928, cannot be included as Mickey there has a few aspects of on his design that aren't PD yet (the more recognizable "roundness"), along with WesternAnimation/{{Pluto|ThePup}}, meaning that only Dr. XXX, the eponymous MadDoctor, is safe, as mentioned above[[/note]]. The former had its copyright expired in the 1950s, as copyright terms at that time required manual renewals of intellectual property, while the latter couldn't even have a copyright at all due to being unauthorized[[note]]The music is still under copyright save for the ending of the short, which includes Music/HectorBerlioz's "Requiem, Op. 5: Sanctus"[[/note]]) and voices are still the copyright of {{Creator/Disney}} until those copyrights expire 96 years after publication.

* [[{{WesternAnimation/TheMadDoctor}} The Mad Doctor/Dr. XXX]]

* WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat

** Oswald the Lucky Rabbit entered the United States public domain on January 1st, 2023, as his first 9 shorts from 1927 has had their copyright expired.

* Dog Face from ''A Mutt in a Rut''.

** WesternAnimation/PussInBoots and it’s [[WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish sequel]] pull a variety of figures from classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes like Humpty Dumpty, {{Literature/Goldilocks}} or Jack Horner.

Under U.S. law, works first published before 1929 are no longer subject to copyright. Before the 1970s, copyright was not automatic in the United States and most other countries, and it was possible for a copyright to lapse if not registered or renewed in a timely manner, so certain later works are public domain as well. In Europe, the rule is that the author has to have been dead for 70 years[[note]]with the exception of Spain, which has a copyright term of life plus 80 years for creators that died before 1987[[/note]]. The longest copyright term in the world is that of Mexico, in which since 2003, works do not enter the public domain until the author has been dead for ''100 years''[[note]]which is not retroactive; any author who died before 1952 is already in the public domain[[/note]]. Under the Berne Convention, work-for-hire has a copyright term of 100 years from the date of publication. Additionally, the copyright holder may choose to release it prematurely into the PublicDomain.

* ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' and associated characters, as long as only material from the first 21 books of [[Literature/LandOfOz the series]] (published in 1927 or earlier), plus a few later books whose copyrights were not renewed, is used. (Thankfully, this includes all the Baum books.) The famous ruby slippers date from [[Film/TheWizardOfOz the 1939 movie]] and thus have to be licensed from Creator/WarnerBros; the originals in the books are ''silver''.

* Myth/{{Polybius}}

* The contemporary Internet legend of Myth/{{Polybius}}, which doesn't have a specific author and is instead part of the contemporary folklore (keep in mind, though, that his logo is trademarked).

* All of the cartoons created by Creator/VanBeurenStudios are public domain, as are all the characters they created (with the exception of pre-existing characters they had licensed, such as Otto Soglow's ''Little King'', the stars of Fontaine Fox's ''Toonerville Trolley'' and ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat'') are public domain, as the studio abruptly went belly-up in 1936, and nobody bothered to claim ownership of their library or characters. Their ''Tom & Jerry'' characters do run into a hiccup, as a [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry more famous cartoon duo bearing the same name]] had surfaced a few years after the studio's demise, forcing home movie reissues of their cartoons to [[AdaptationalNameChange rename the characters Dick & Larry.]] Even Thunderbeans' complete DVD rerelease of the cartoons had to distinguish them as "Van Beuren's Tom & Jerry" to prevent people from confusing them with the cat and mouse duo.

* The fears of ''Franchise/TheFearMythos'' Except [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos the Slender Man]]. See [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender_Man#Copyright here]] for more details.

* WebOriginal/JennyEverywhere, the comic-book character, was explicitly ''created'' to serve this purpose. She's not so much public domain but as ''open source'' as modern copyright law permits of modern creations.

* ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' features H.G. Wells's Martians as a recurring background element, has given guest appearances to Sherlock Holmes and most of the classic MonsterMash, regularly features WebOriginal/JennyEverywhere, and more.

* Film/KingKong, sort of. But ItsALongStory. Read [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki's]] take on it [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong#Legal_rights here]].

Thanks to the trend of various changes in legislation, copyright terms can sometimes be cynically described as lasting at least X+20 years, where X is the number of years since the release of ''WesternAnimation/SteamboatWillie'', the first widely-released Mickey Mouse cartoon. It is generally believed, though inaccurately, that the most recent extension of American copyright duration — the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Bono_Copyright_Term_Extension_Act Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act]] — was enacted at the behest of the {{Creator/Disney}} Company solely to keep Mickey Mouse cartoons from entering the public domain. This is why the act was derisively referred to by detractors as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act.[[note]]The ''real'' reason why it was enacted was that the EU harmonized its copyright laws, changing its standard term from life plus 50 to life plus 70, and equally significantly adopting a concept called the "rule of the shorter term". Under that rule, if two countries have different copyright terms, a work will be protected only for the shorter period in both countries. Without a US term extension to life plus 70, copyright owners would have been denied 20 years' worth of royalties in both the EU and US. There were also fears that failing to extend the US term would have hampered the commercial viability of genres that were more popular in Europe than the US, with jazz as one notable example.[[/note]]

Given Congress' willingness to extend copyright duration any time Hollywood demands it, it is entirely possible that -- in America at least -- the pool of public domain characters has reached its maximum size and will grow no larger, except by accident or oversight. As of January 2012, it is now possible in the United States for [[http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/scotus-re-copyright-decision/ works to be taken back out of the public domain]], leading to the inevitable conclusion that the pool of public domain characters has not only reached its maximum size, it is likely to ''shrink''. (Ironically, the very same Hollywood corporations responsible for the original copyright durations would probably be the first to fight tooth and nail to ''keep'' certain properties in the public domain, if only so that they could continue making movies with some of the characters mentioned below.) However, no copyright extension took place in 2018—''not even Disney'' lobbied for such a change. In fact, the main US lobby for authors now publicly advocates ''reducing'' copyright terms![[note]]ItMakesSenseInContext... authors welcome new additions to the PD, allowing them to create works that would previously have been illegal.[[/note]] This means that for the first time in two decades, the public domain saw new additions in 2019, specifically (almost all) works created in 1923.[[note]]Sound recordings were not covered by US federal copyright law until February 15, 1972, with recordings fixed before that date protected only by state law. Pre-1972 recordings were later placed under the federal umbrella, but state law would not have been preempted until ''2067''. Finally, in 2018, state copyright laws were once and for all preempted with regard to pre-1972 sound recordings. Pre-1923 recordings entered the PD in 2022, with other pre-1972 recordings following in subsequent decades.[[/note]]

This reversal of extending copyrights can be traced to, at least for U.S. copyright laws, something that was just becoming part of everyday reality in 1998 when the Sonny Bono Act was passed: the Internet. With now almost any work of literature, TV, film, or music now available to download legally or illegally, trying to keep an iron grip on copyrighted works and characters has become near-pointless. To address this, many companies have set up streaming services and places to legally download works, usually with incentives in place to make it more appealing to the consumer like extras included before only found on [=DVDs=], higher picture quality for shows and movies, and offering a whole ''library'' of works on streaming services for a monthly rate instead of having to pay per download. Even Disney, the juggernaut that has often been responsible for copyright extension, has developed an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude. They have now included many early cartoons for anyone to watch on their [=YouTube=] channel including, you guessed it, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgghnQF6E4 Steamboat Willie]]''.

A distinction should be made between public domain ''characters'' and public domain ''works''; WesternAnimation/BugsBunny is a still copyrighted character due to his first appearance "Hare-Um Scare-um" [[note]] Technically, he had two early shorts, "Porky's Hare Hunt" and "Prest-O Change-O", but he was unnamed at that time [[/note]] not being in the public domain yet, but some of his individual cartoons are. Those cartoons being in the public domain does not affect the underlining copyright of Bug Bunny's first appearance.[[note]] A case against George S. Brown by Disney showed that just because WesternAnimation/TheMadDoctor had it's copyright expired, it did not mean Mickey Mouse's copyright expired, due to Mickey Mouse's first appearance "Steamboat Willie" still being copyrighted at the time.[[/note]]

It should be mentioned as well the issue with derivative works, new works based on previous ones, such as adaptations. Although the ''original'' character or work may be in the public domain, a modern derivative work may not be. You can make your own derivative work of that public domain character, as long as it is clearly different from the version from the recent Hollywood blockbuster. Myth/NorseMythology, in and of itself, is in the public domain, but if you try to make a blond Thor with a red cape and a hammer that OnlyTheChosenMayWield,[[note]]In the myths, it's simply a hammer so heavy that only Thor, the strongest god of all, is able to lift. Stan Lee changed that part because it would be meaningless in a world filled with superheroes and supervillains with super strength[[/note]] you may be in trouble.

It should be noted that, in general, a {{UsefulNotes/trademark}} is forever. As long as the holder of the trademark is creating some kind of "product" (media counts), and they fulfill certain requirements (protecting the trademark is generally required), they can demand that the courts enforce the trademark. This is another reason why trademarks have become more common.

One interesting side note to keep in mind is that there is a difference between ''copyright'' (the legal right to control the reproduction of a particular expression of an idea or concept) and ''trademark'' (a symbol, character, or design which is intended to be emblematic of a particular product or organization and used to identify them in a kind of visual shorthand). Public domain generally deals with copyright alone -- meaning that it might be possible for someone to legally write a story with a public domain character, only to find they cannot legally sell their story using that character's name because someone else holds the trademark. This ''has'' happened.

In the USA, the Supreme Court decision [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dastar_v._Twentieth_Century_Fox Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox (2003)]] ruled that a public domain work doesn't violate the trademark of the underlying work. The specific ruling was narrow and dealt with "reverse passing off", rather than using a trademarked name. The ruling is generally believed to apply to using names as well, in which case it would indeed be legal to use a trademarked name on a public domain story, but no case that confirms this has reached the Supreme Court yet.

Of course, even if a character isn't in the Public Domain, a good writer can [[WritingAroundTrademarks probably find a way]] to get that character in by creating a CaptainErsatz or an AlternateCompanyEquivalent, or by utilizing a LawyerFriendlyCameo. And if that writer can't even use ''a character he created'' thanks to the wonders of modern copyright law, then he can use an {{Expy}}. Sometimes, they can just graft that character onto a HistoricalDomainCharacter (see below). Of course, sometimes all this can just go too far when a certain popular character becomes known as a FountainOfExpies.

A character can also fall into the public domain if it doesn't meet the threshold of originality -- which means characters that are too simple to be copyrighted. For example, a single grey square cannot be copyrighted, nor can a stick figure.

** Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse entered United States public domain on January 1st, 2024, as ''WesternAnimation/SteamboatWillie'' and the silent versions of WesternAnimation/PlaneCrazy and ''WesternAnimation/TheGallopinGaucho'' [[note]] the copyrights for their audio versions say 1929, so the audio will still be copyrighted until 2025. The story and visuals are the only things in those shorts that are in the Public Domain right now. [[/note]] are now in the public domain. Disney didn't attempt to extend the copyright anymore. Disney still owns the trademark, so while you might be able to use Mickey and Minnie in your own copyrighted work, using them as a trademark that creates customer confusion would get you sued by Disney's lawyers. [[{{WritingAroundTrademarks}} Best to just call them Mickey and Minnie and use "Mouse" separately instead of their full names (aka their trademarked brand names) just to be on the safe side]] (you can still say that "Mouse" is the couple's last names, though).

Most notably, the authors only have to be dead for 50 years for their works to enter the public domain in New Zealand +--meaning that those of Creator/CSLewis and Creator/IanFleming (died in 1963 and 1964) are no longer under copyright in that country. Canada is a party to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States–Mexico–Canada_Agreement a 2018 trade agreement]] that uses a minimum life-plus-70 term, and accordingly changed its law to that effect in 2022. However, this change was not made retroactive, meaning that the works of any author who died before 1972 (including Lewis and Fleming) are PD in Canada. Mexico is also a party to that agreement, in which its "life plus 100" term is preserved. In Australia, the work of any author who died before 1955 is public domain; the country changed from a "life plus 50" term to "life plus 70" in 2004, but also did not make the change retroactive. Similarly, in Japan, which changed from "life plus 50" to "life plus 70" in 2018 and didn't make this change retroactive, the work of any author who died before 1968 is public domain.

Most notably, the authors only have to be dead for 50 years for their works to enter the public domain in New Zealand - meaning that those of Creator/CSLewis and Creator/IanFleming (died in 1963 and 1964) are no longer under copyright in that country. Canada is a party to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States–Mexico–Canada_Agreement a 2018 trade agreement]] that uses a minimum life-plus-70 term, and accordingly changed its law to that effect in 2022. However, this change was not made retroactive, meaning that the works of any author who died before 1972 (including Lewis and Fleming) are PD in Canada. Mexico is also a party to that agreement, in which its "life plus 100" term is preserved. In Australia, the work of any author who died before 1955 is public domain; the country changed from a "life plus 50" term to "life plus 70" in 2004, but also did not make the change retroactive. Similarly, in Japan, which changed from "life plus 50" to "life plus 70" in 2018 and didn't make this change retroactive, the work of any author who died before 1968 is public domain.

* There was a book published in the 1970s called "50,000 motion pictures in the public domain" which took all of the copyright registrations for films starting around 1912 up through about 1975 or so, and dropped the ones for which copyright renewals were made. While a lot of these films either no longer exist - Irving Thalberg, as head of MGM, had a lot of films rendered (melted down) to recover their silver content - or have been lost, and some may be based on scripts or books that are still copyrighted, there are still a lot of films that are out of copyright because of failure to renew back when renewals were mandatory.

** There were also issues in the US as well over the copyright status of Sherlock Holmes as a whole, due to the aforementioned few stories still in copyright - the Conan Doyle estate has long argued that as long as these stories are in copyright, so is the entire literary canon of Holmes. This reasoning was struck down by the courts, so Holmes himself was very much in the public domain in the US (and in other countries where the estate's argument doesn't hold legal water) for certain, aside from aspects covered by the few stories that where copyrighted until 2023, which was easily worked around if not ignored entirely.

* [[{{WesternAnimation/TheMadDoctor}} The Mad Doctor/Dr.XXX]]

*** Much like Oswald, Mickey and Minnie's post-1928 designs (save for those in ''[[https://archive.org/details/mickeys-follies-redrawn-and-colorized Mickey's Follies]]'' (1930) and the unofficial short ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseInVietnam'' (1969)[[note]]''WesternAnimation/TheMadDoctor'', while being another short in public domain despite being post-1928, cannot be included as Mickey there has a few aspects of on his design that aren't PD yet (the more recognizable "roundness"), along with Pluto, meaning that only Dr.XXX, the eponymous MadDoctor, is safe, as mentioned above[[/note]]. The former had its copyright expired in the 1950s, as copyright terms at that time required manual renewals of intellectual property, while the latter couldn't even have a copyright at all due to being unauthorized[[note]]The music is still under copyright save for the ending of the short, which includes Music/HectorBerlioz's "Requiem, Op. 5: Sanctus"[[/note]]) and voices are still the copyright of {{Creator/Disney}} until those copyrights expire 96 years after publication.

** Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse entered United States public domain on January 1st, 2024, as ''WesternAnimation/SteamboatWillie'' and the silent versions of WesternAnimation/PlaneCrazy and ''WesternAnimation/TheGallopinGaucho'' [[note]] the copyrights for their audio versions say 1929, so the audio will still be copyrighted until 2025. The story and visuals are the only things in those shorts that are in the Public Domain right now. [[/note]] are now in the public domain. Disney didn't attempt to extend the copyright anymore. Disney still owns the trademark, so while you might be able to use Mickey and Minnie in your own copyrighted work, using them as a trademark that creates customer confusion would get you sued by Disney's lawyers. [[{{WritingAroundTrademarks}} Best to just call them Mickey and Minnie instead of their full names (aka their trademarked brand names) just to be on the safe side.]]