What Happens When BATMAN Enters Public Domain?

[@RiseOfTheKumquat67]

"Yeah, sure, it's legal, but you *WILL* go to Hell for doing that." -My mom, when I told her that there's a Winnie The Pooh slasher movie coming out this year

[@vakk985]

she's right you know

[@MrxstGrssmnstMttckstPhlNelThot]

@Don't Read My Profile Picture ok I won't then. Now what dummy.

[@hisham_as]

She is a wise woman

[@johnwerner69]

Religious parents are scared of everything

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

What she mean by "doing"? Seeing it? Making it?

[@neauxway]

No sidekick named Robin, but what about Batman and Christopher Robin?

[@austinmcconnell]

Now you're thinking with portals.

[@pattheplanter]

There is a British bus driver and artist called Joe Kerr.

[@ccelite3782]

This Public Domain stuff sounds fun now 💀

[@danang5]

@@ccelite3782 always has been,thats why the big company pay alot of money in lobbying to extend the copyright law so we cant have fun

[@wrentubes1886]

As I kid, I came up with the joke "Christopher Robin will never be Batman's sidekick" lol

[@CorthosFellrin]

Having the opening shot be Batman pulling a Glock on a villain would funny af. "I thought you didn't kill?" "Wrong Bat" *Bang*

[@TheSecondVersion]

You'd probably enjoy the Flashpoint story arc

[@CorthosFellrin]

@@TheSecondVersion Did that happen in the story? If so that would be based af

[@nonameman7114]

@@CorthosFellrin yeah flashpoint is a separate universe where Bruce dies and his father becomes Batman instead. Unlike Bruce’s no kill rule, his father brutally murders every criminal he comes in contact with.

[@michwashington]

It’s so bad ! It’s good ❤

[@TheTexas1994]

Austin really keeps looking for things to add to his cinematic universe

[@AgentHeroic]

Batman vs Catman vs Mancat

[@shroomer8294]

Imagine year ten of the bargain bin cinematic universe and Batman shows up

[@cultofmrozinski368]

He’s too low tier compared to Six Gun Gorilla.

[@Jonah-idk]

@@AgentHeroic vs manbat

[@pattheplanter]

@@Jonah-idk Man-Bat was first used in 1970, too long to wait. However, Batman vs Catman vs Mancat vs Manbat Ltd, Expressway Business Park, Abergele Rd Unit 1, Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire LL18 5SQ, could probably be agreed with the company in return for free advertising.

[@casey475]

Since the Greek and Norse mythologies have always been in the public domain, people have added new flavors to make their stories of them unique. Such with Wonder Woman, Hercules, Thor, Lore Olympus, Percy Jackson, Supernatural, etc. The same can be said with this Batman since even in comics he’s had multiple iterations of varying styles, so unique ones outside of DC continuity would still work pretty well

[@Marc-rw3dd]

I think it's a little different with mythological characters. When it's a character like Thor that's been around for a long time, the differences seem normal. Of course there's different versions of him. With Batman, it'll feel weird, he's remaned basically the same all these years. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Like another comments said, carrying batman back to his core ideas has a lot of potential for a fresh take. But meh, if the world even is still around that long, I probably may not even care anymore

[@juliusbossman7280]

Funny you mention that cause DC is planning a Batman movie with Camazotz, the Mayan god of bats

[@raytheuglymusician2453]

I’m writing a public domain Batman story specifically for it falling out of copyright and I was LITERALLY just trying to figure out this shit yesterday. Thank you!

[@dancegod1691]

Good luck in 10 years I’m rooting for you

[@-Teague-]

Can't wait to see it! I'll sub to you for potential updates!

[@DirtyDan16325]

Can’t wait to see it!

[@batboythecool]

Same here. I have a old script for a alternate universe Batman when the world is In ruins.

[@drewo.127]

I wish you the best dude!!! Hope to read the story when it’s done if you’re ok with it! I’m glad that the original BatMan still drives a car, even if it’s not a flashy Batmobile! I’m absolutely making a story of that Batman told from the car’s perspective! I think since I can’t call it “Batmobile”, I might just call it “the red roadster”. For the time being, I’m probably gonna work on silly fan fiction to practice finding the vibe of this hypothetical “Batman” story. Or I’m probably just thinking out loud!

[@LiMe251]

How to avoid trademarks whilst being recognizable Movie title: "the man in the bat costume" City name: Havesteak Have=got Steak=ham

[@jameshamill4709]

I know you said "No rogues gallery at all" but a good chunk of those rogues were introduced in 1940 so all you'd have to do is wait an extra year and you'd have access to the Joker, Robin (Dick Grayson), Tony Zucco, Catwoman, Hugo Strange, and Clayface. Most of his core rogue gallery was introduced relatively early on. You even have a couple of fun characters from the early Gothic stories of 1939 like Doctor Death and the Mad Monk which have been adapted by Scott Snyder and Matt Wagner respectively. Joe Chill is also 1939. Rogues Gallery Year of Introduction 1941-1950 Penguin, Scarecrow, and Rag Doll get introduced in 1941. Two Face and Salvatore Maroni were introduced in 1942. Solomon Grundy comes into play in 1944. The Riddler and Mad Hatter's first appearances are in 1948. Deadshot is introduced in 1950.

[@A1stardan]

Thank you kind sir

[@Patrick-pc3vq]

Waiting a few more years to use the Scarecrow definetely would pay off for a badass Batman fan made project.

[@qwertyzillaofficial2969]

Imma wait like 20 more years to make him fight Lord Death Man💀

[@VelvetVexations]

Important to note, though, that the original Clayface was just a serial killer wearing a mask. The first version of Clayface to be a living mud man debuted in 1961, just over two decades later.

[@jadenbryant9283]

and thers is also the fact that you can make analogs of them as well if you want

[@Labyrinth6000]

I prefer you do a video with Steamboat Willie's Mickey Mouse entering public domain. Disney will be HELLBENT on making sure it never happens and if they fail, they’ll likely still sue people out of spite even though it would be legal to use Mickey Mouse in your own work

[@Ganondorfdude11]

Steamboat Willie enters public domain next year. It's too late to pass another copyright extension before that happens. And once it goes PD, there's no going back. There's no legal precedent for a PD work going back under copyright. Hence why Night of the Living Dead has always been PD (because under the laws at the time you had to put a copyright notice on the film title and someone forgot to do that).

[@SamAronow]

@@Ganondorfdude11 And the original copyright extension, though aggressively lobbied by Disney, was originally intended merely to bring US copyright law in line with that of France.

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

@@Ganondorfdude11 True, *however* they will inevitably do everything they can to stop anyone using Mickey. For example: They already have the ability to argue you can only use the Steamboat Willie version OF Mickey. And even then his name is still Trademarked, and your various expressions using Steamboat Willie Mickey might infringe on their existing toy copyrights which were made much more recently. It's stupid.

[@Labyrinth6000]

@@MrJoeyWheeler This is definitely a gray area Disney is entering. Those "infringement" toy copyrights would conflict with PD laws and I can tell someone will bring this up in a future court hearing.

[@realshow689]

What bothers me most is that the copyright of this one version of Mickey doesn’t even matter in the long run, they already have the design of just about every character in the episode trademarked. If they don’t want people to use it, they already have an easy way to go about this.

[@binkbonkbones3402]

Wait, so you're telling me for the past year I've been writing a grim 1930s noir dick tracey vigilante parody with themes of vengeance and loss, and I'll LEGALLY BE ALLOWED TO MAKE IT A BATMAN FRANCHISE!?!?

[@BillHoward3]

technically, if its parody, I think you can anyway

[@qwertyzillaofficial2969]

You already can if it’s a parody

[@felipea1399]

By 2037 you will be able to use Joker, Gotham and Robin tho

[@BenjaminRegen]

Step 1: Survive the next 14 years 😁

[@felipeandmichelle]

The Joker?? oh boy, the last thing we needed was more attempts at "reinventing" the joker

[@gavin6095]

I will make my own Batman and joker original romance graphic novel and no one can stop me except dc’s legal team but I will defeat them

[@paulallen2680]

@@gavin6095 🤨🔫

[@quaglegagle674]

Wouldn't it be 2036? I'm still really confused on the math for this since Batman #1 came out in 1940

[@stillvisionsmusic]

My running tinfoil hat theory - all the Disney origin stories are in fact copyright traps to fill out their character backstories with mundane details to ensnare later derivative works when their characters enter the public domain. By including things like "character had a job" and "character went to school" and "character was happy/sad/angry" can all be used as "new" personality traits. The Arthur Conan Doyle estate has done that with Sherlock Holmes' later stories, why wouldn't Disney do that with all their new origin movies?

[@mitchellalexander9162]

If they could dismiss 'Emotions and feelings are not a Copyrightable Exclusive Character trait' in the Lawsuit from the Enola Holmes Show they tried to fight. Then the same argument will be used for that.

[@lauchboy0122]

The exact same thing happened with Sherlock Holmes over the past few years, which was also very interesting to follow.

[@Jamesyboi135]

Imagine a batman show or movie without anyone that is apart of the rogues gallery or sidekicks or even alferd

[@jadenbryant9283]

@@Jamesyboi135 well Gordon can still show up he did also appera in detective comics issue 27.

[@Tudsamfa]

2035: The year we got 27 rushed batman movies, before being flooded with 127 the year after. Society never recovers, fashion regresses to the 1930s, people buy all sort of bat - gadgets the films keep advertising, at any crime scene people gather and discuss the clues in rough, monotone voices. Gordon becomes the 4th most common boy name, after Batman, Bat-man and Geonsno (in reference to the Game of Thrones revival). Meanwhile, a single excentric college student is working on a Superman movie but cannot secure anyone for the role, resorting to use A.I. actors. Curiously, they also turn him down to star in a Batman movie instead. The A.I. batman epidemic had just began. Looking at the city, a guy in a purple zoot suit laughs. He is served and executed by WB immedietly.

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

> fashion regresses to the 1930s That sounds awesome.

[@celestee2264]

I died at the name part

[@qwertyzillaofficial2969]

That would actually make for a good movie plot

[@KCKingdomCreateGreatTrekAgain]

There is NO REASON for copyright to be more than 20 years. Except of course corporate greed. Which isn’t a good reason!!

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

In a just world everyone whether artist or not would be guarenteed a well enough standard of living that the vert idea of "copyright guarentees you exclisive right to profit off an idea" would sound deeply nonsensical to desire.

[@nillypc42]

If Batman comes into the public domain, I can finally adapt my childhood fanfictions into actual stories.

[@-Teague-]

Do it

[@mikespearwood3914]

Dew it!

[@pizzaparker7424]

I will finally be able to make the movie of my childhood dreams: Batman vs T-Rex 😯

[@Facade953]

Same here!😁

[@kallemetsahalme5701]

what? you cant now write that 10 page doodle script into your 50 cent notebook and hide it in your drawer? or you expect that in 2035 you can take it and walk to a publisher who says "oh this is gold and now its 2035 so we can totally publish it!"?

[@atypicalmedia7211]

It is true that many iconic Batman elements won’t be in the public domain until decades after the man himself, but several like Robin, Joker, Hugo Strange, Gotham City, etc. came just a couple years after Detective Comics #27. So if you hold off two or three more years, you’ll get the fuller package. Or you can just create your own villains for him to fight.

[@jadenbryant9283]

Late I know but anyway and considering how batman was a killer in his first apperance you will have to make a lot of new villains lol.

[@atypicalmedia7211]

​@@jadenbryant9283 I've heard people say this a lot, but I think it'd be perfectly fine legally if your story just didn't have Batman kill anyone as long as you didn't explicitly state that he has a no kill rule. And again, his no kill rule came only two years after his introduction, so you don't have to wait too long.

[@jadenbryant9283]

@@atypicalmedia7211 yeah but I think Batman killing would make things Safe legally and besides you can fo this joke. Criminal:WAIT PLEASE DONT! I THOUGHT THEY SAID YOUR NOT A KILLER Bat-Man: well there wrong. Murders the guy.

[@Themandalorian935]

I am already working on writing my own batman movie so I can make it as soon as it becomes public domain

[@WW_Studios]

noice!

[@pattheplanter]

Can you make him vegetarian so the title can be the untrademarked Fruitbat-Man?

[@Isaacisaperson4677]

well depends on the characters

[@ChurchofCthulhu]

There's actually already a public domain Batman. There's a newspaper article from the late 1800's about two sightings of a flying man above Coney Island. They called him the Brooklyn Batman. That's the only mention of him. So go make that Brooklyn Batman movie NOW!!!! 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇

[@batman5224]

I’m disappointed that there’s never been a serious live action Batman TV show. A series could explore so much lore that just can’t be touched upon in a movie. Batman could also demonstrate more of his detective skills, but for some reason, DC believes Batman is too big for the small screen.

[@Rafael_Peixoto]

Allow me to present you "Batman the Animated Series", part of the DC animated universe It is legitimately one of the best interpretations of the character and the lore surrounding it

[@14aeon]

there is alr a show called gotham, thought, it only shows bruce as a teenager

[@lucjan1897]

@@14aeon because WB doesn't believe Batman should be in TV, so the best show creators can use is Bruce Wayne. Seriously

[@greco-romano9852]

Same with Spider-Man. Give me a faithful adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man across two or three seasons of TV.

[@DrFranklynAnderson]

I’ve heard it has to do with distribution. Fox apparently still owns the rights to any portrayal of Batman himself on TV thanks to the Adam West series, but can’t produce anything without Warner Bros.’ permission. That’s why we keep getting WB shows like Batwoman, Titans, and the upcoming Gotham Knights set in Gotham City but without Batman. Or Arrow turning the Emerald Archer into a dark vigilante who fights a lot of Batman’s rogues. Allegedly the Gotham prequel show was a special deal made in exchange for the home distribution rights to the Adam West show, but Fox still didn’t have permission to use Batman in full costume until literally the last shot of the series.

[@starmada105]

Batman better join the Superzeroes when he becomes public domain.

[@Mephilis78]

You could literally make a sidekick named Robin the following year though.

[@samp.8099]

00:15 That movie is a parody of Winnie The Pooh, and parodies are protected by copyright regardless if the original property is under copyright or not. In fact, the movie used Disney's copyrighted version of Winnie the Pooh, the one with the red shirt.

[@バーンズエリック]

I was gonna say 'Forget Batman... What about Superman?' but then you mentioned him. Archie Andrews debuted in something like 1942, so his copyright would be coming up soon, too, and his stories early on could be kinda raunchy...

[@ValueNetwork]

I’m really interested to see if Disney lets Steamboat Willie and the original Mickey Mouse go. With Oswald, Mickeys predecessor cartoon, they’ve basically acted like he’s not in public domain, mostly because he only appeared in a few shorts and stuff like his color or his personality were only refined When Disney created Modern Oswald in the 2000s. But with Mickey, Disney struck gold immediately, he became the most popular and the most merchandised cartoon in the world. If they give up Mickey they will basically be giving up what the public sees as a modern Mickey Mouse just with creepier toys! If Disney can’t change the copyright law (like they did last time) next year will be very interesting legally (Lawsuits will 100% fly)

[@THE_bchat]

Disney would not "lose" Mickey Mouse simply because one short cartoon enters the Public Domain. They still have valid copyrights on basically everything afterwards, plus all the Trademarks associated with the character. Disney's money would be better spent creating new material to copyright that would make it more difficult for anyone to create something "original" with a hundred year-old cartoon about a whistling mouse.

[@eriklarsen9735]

Disney is keeping quiet on the copyright front because they'll be using the inevitable lawsuits over Mickey Mouse to try and set a new precedent they can take advantage of. Anyone who claims that they know what will happen when Steamboat Willie hits public domain doesn't know what they're talking about; trademarks are not supposed to substitute for copyright, and the continual extensions of copyright have mostly kept this fight out of court. The big names due coming up combined with the drastically changed media and political landscape since the last major extension in 1998 means that Congress will sit things out and let the legal fight inevitably end up in the Supreme Court to clarify what can and can't be protected by trademark. From Disney's perspective, this is a win-win. My guess is they'll try to tie Mickey Mouse inextricably to Disney itself as their sole brand icon, while leaving enough wiggle room for less-defined icons (like, say, Batman and Superman) to lose protection. DC will be forced to pick a horse, and whoever they leave out will now be free for Disney to adapt as the newest member of the MCU. And if they lose Mickey altogether because the Supremes feel some partisan drive to punish "woke" Hollywood, then their consolation prize is all of DC's library as it slowly enters public domain.

[@changsiah2]

I think least likely because he doesn't like to see their mouse go after what happened with Oswell before they call him back If Nicki ever does go to copyright domain bankrupt or something Then again Disney is not that strict

[@mikaela5938]

disney is evil and shouldn't be allowed to exist

[@Mallory-Malkovich]

Although, if Disney hadn't spent billions lobbying to change American copyright laws in the 20th century, Batman would _already be_ in the public domain, along with Superman, Mickey Mouse, and a host of other popular characters.

[@izzyj.1079]

Going by the rules prior to the Micky Mouse Protect Act (yes, that's actually what it's called), if I recall correctly, you could have copyright for 14 years, and apply for a 14 year extension if your work was especially successful. Going by this standard, anything from before 1995 would be in the Public Domain, as with most of anything pre-2009. Forget golden age comic books from the 30's, most of the medium would be in the Public Domain. As would: the original Star Wars trilogy, the old Ghostbusters movies, Back to the Future, Jaws, every other classic movie from the 80's and early 90's they wanna reboot now. Remember, local copyright rules apply to foreign properties too. Thus: the Super Mario Bros. trilogy, and all of the other NES classics with it, the classic Sonic trilogy, Final Fantasy I-VI, the original Star-Fox, Doom, every other classic game from the 16-Bit systems back. It would probably get an extension, but if it didn't, the Harry Potter books and most of the movies would be there too. This is what Disney took away from you. For most of human history, copyright didn't exist. Before Disney, it was meant to expire within a generation. The ludicrously extensive copyright and trademark laws we have now are an aberration. The historical norm is for people to have free access to the artistic work of their parents, creators be damned. I'm not that extreme, but I think it wouldn't hurt to undo Disney's shenanigans. All because they want to cling to a mouse cartoon. And that's just on media. Trademark applies far more broadly, to vaccines and medicine. Copyright was once upon a time just the artistic version of a patent. Meant to expire and contribute to wider society, once the creator had a chance to profit off it. The way the medical industry cloys to those trademarks is actively killing people. I say it's time to do away with a broken system.

[@Patrick-pc3vq]

@@izzyj.1079 The world is run by selfish greedy capitalist pigs that don't want the public to make money off things that make them money, they don't want equality, they always wanted superiority.

[@izzyj.1079]

@@Patrick-pc3vq I never argued otherwise

[@RealWorldGames]

Tarzan , Batman, Sherlock Holmes team up comic would be cool.

[@blakemcnamara9105]

There will definitely be some interesting legal issues pertaining to technicalities with this. Legal Eagle should have a lot of content to work with in the next decade.

[@Groggle7141]

2:17 Joker, Catwoman, Robin, No Killing, Gotham, the Bat-Gadets (Baterang, Mobile, Hook, ect.,), and the other Rogues were all added in the early 1940s. This means you literally have to just a few years after 2035 to get that stuff.

[@OptimusPhillip]

"Steamboat Willie will enter the public domain in 2024" On an unrelated topic, I predict that US copyright protections will be extended another 20 years in 2023.

[@krazykris9396]

I doubt it. Disney isn't very popular with a certain faction of politicians. Also other media companies will want to be able to use Mickey mouse. While not a major property, Disney already allowed the copyright for oswald to expire.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Well, the first Oswald shorts are public domain now at least in America.

[@WasatchWind]

I'm honestly kind of pissed about all the copyright, because so much of modern media is built off of the public domain, yet as soon as we get to when a bunch of popular audiovisual things came out, these somehow, are DIFFERENT. They are precious gems that inherently need to be withheld from the public domain. I'm not just talking about the corporations, I'm talking that many every day people say this too, that they don't want stuff from the 20th century in the public domain. Mostly cause they're afraid of stuff like schlocky horror movies - rather than the simple fact that public domain can be a great source of creativity, and that yeah there will be crappy Robin hood movies, but there's also awesome ones too. I don't see why precious Mickey Mouse and other properties need protection. Walt is dead. Many of these properties are held not even by the families of the deceased, but by corporations just grasping onto money. It's just so stupid, don't have much more intelligent to contribute than that.

[@chungusmaximus526]

Making money: Good. Somebody make me make less money: Bad. I like this mentality. It separates me from the plebeians and I won't live in poverty like when I was a child and had to do my necessities in a bucket.

[@hueypautonoman]

They don't need protection. Copyright was designed to make creators a little money, not protect their works for their children to sit at home and make money and certainly not for corporations. It's just another example of capitalism running amuck.

[@kallemetsahalme5701]

the copyrights were never really tested at all. people just a while ago in the early 1900s were living far and scarce and they just invented their folklore that was told and forgotten. personally i even hope some of the copyrights can be retained. i hate to think about opening youtube or almost any site and be greeted with an avalanche of shitty superman, batman, bugs bunny, mickey etc stories. everyone thinking their story about batman is the best one and deserves to be seen by the 5 people who care. makers will have even less incentive to create something new. even now there are tons of game creators who just ape some popular game and then get it taken down by lawyers. i dont see much any worth in them getting actually released.

[@WasatchWind]

@@kallemetsahalme5701 My comment was about you.

[@kallemetsahalme5701]

@Wasatch Wind and i explained why i think its more than "i like the original winnie the pooh and i like corporations". modern time is different in all aspects compared to even the 1930s. people complain that copyright gives the inheritors and corporations something to milk without deserving it yet many of them are first in queue to create their mostly crappy adaptations of batman instead of coming up with something original. while most of these almost-batman things for sure dont require batman. if nothing else theres the environmentalist and societal reasoning. youtube for example gets craploads of stuff every hour and takes up insane server space. the world is full of entertainment and people can still make their own creations in drawer or whatever. world doesnt really need more junk even if 1% of the flood might be somewhat clever

[@GuyFierisShirt]

Wrong, in 2036 Robin, the Batplane, the Batmobile, the Joker, Catwoman, the Bat-signal, Scarecrow, in 2037, we'll see the Batcave, Alfred, Two-Face, and Penguin, Riddler will be available in 2043 though, and slightly later Ace the Bathound will enter the public domain, but he is right, no Mr. Freeze, no Batgirl, no Nightwing, etc.

[@Odrikah]

Ngl a Batman movie with all completely original characters and lore aside from the very basic origin and persinaliry of Batman would be pretty dope if it were done right. The Animated Series in the 90s made up OCs all the time (Harley, Condiment King, Grey Ghost, etc) which became so popular that they entered proper Batman lore later on. It all has to do with writing. If it's good, it's good, and limitations sometimes breed innovation. I for one would love to see a dozen Batman fanfilms with Doctor Death or some completely made up villain as opposed to the newest retelling of the Killing Joke for the fifteenth time.

[@ryeman7980]

There's actually some hope that the eternal copy extensions are over. There isn't any major sign of a push from any company to extend the copyright since there isn't public support for them to retain the characters any more. They'll probably rely more on suing anything too profitable to intimidate people into not trying to use the characters.

[@arthand7672]

I don't know if I would ever actually do anything with the out of copyright characters. The problem with characters having nearly a century of history is that everything has been done. If you try and make a unique villian for a batman movie, they could probably dig up a dozen characters that are close enough to sue you over. If you try and give him a love interest, they could find one from the comics who looks vaguely like them. You try and give him a new suit... well you get the idea. They may not win the fight but they can make it expensive by just combing through old comics.

[@TheJadedJames]

One thing is that I kind of feel like the existence of the MCU may have changed the perception of this dramatically over the years by making film goers aware of what they can and can’t get because of copyright stuff. Wolverine can’t fight Captain America because didn’t companies own the rights. Sony and Marvel were fighting over Spider-Man beyond the point where he could have previously entered the public domain.

[@fabianramos6033]

No Batman and Superman deserve to be free from Warner bros and dc just like mickey mouse.

[@envi2273]

​@@fabianramos6033 No thanks, I'd rather not see shitty bootleg batman, superman or mickey mouse projects by hack fans that wanna depict their childhood fanfiction

[@stealthbrandon]

@@envi2273 But the movies disney make now and DC are fanfiction the orignal creators are long dead xD

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

The fact that it's taking this long just to reach this point just shows how absurd copyright law is. It should never have been made "life of the author + X years", it stifled creativity and the public domain, and let people rest on their laurels instead of continuing to innovate.

[@bobbuethe1477]

It could be worse. The Constitution gives Congress the power to grant "for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Some lobbyist once tried to argue that eternity minus one day is a "limited time." Fortunately that got shot down.

[@adambicknell9185]

Worth remembering that different countries have different rules for when media enters the public domain. In the UK we operate on 70 years after the death of the original author. Which means Batman won't be public domain until either 2044 or 2068 depending on whether Bill Finger or Bob Kane is considered the original author for copyright purposes.

[@TheTurtleNexus]

Mmm... normally it should be after the death of all creators (common sense to me). But Bob Kane's deal with DC was quite shady, and I think the law will only take Kane as the creator.

[@adambicknell9185]

@@TheTurtleNexus It may function as the text and the images seperately. For instance with regards to Winnie The Pooh the text is public domain in the UK but the images are under copyright to the artist and still have a few years left.

[@hurou]

Thats a very bad copyright system

[@VexKingYoutube]

When the MCU becomes or if it becomes public domain I expect for the start of the video to have the "I am inevitable and I am Iron Man" scene and then it cuts to you saying "And I am the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe!"

[@sylvy16]

that’s probably not gonna happen for atleast a century tho, cus the current rule is 70 years after death of the creator

[@VexKingYoutube]

@@sylvy16 damn that sucks

[@connordarvall8482]

@@sylvy16 Or 95 years since publication if it was made for or by a company.

[@ender7278]

Won't be within our lifetimes.

[@qwertyzillaofficial2969]

I mean, we’d all be dead

[@melancholyentertainment]

Honestly, I would absolutely love to go see an indie noir film about the classic iteration of Batman.

[@comicfan1324]

You know, assuming the laws don’t change within the next decade or two (which let’s be honest they probably will) imagine if we could one day see a public domain feature length film of the justice league teaming up with the avengers!

[@KetsubanSolo]

We probably won't be alive to see it but at least SOMEONE will be lol

[@erraticonteuse]

We can do an unofficial adaptation of Kurt Busiek and George Perez's JLA/Avengers in 2098!

[@comicfan1324]

@@KetsubanSolo At least my great grandchildren would get to enjoy what I could not.

[@ender7278]

The film itself wouldn't be public domain, and neither of those teams will be until the 60s.

[@comicfan1324]

@@ender7278 So, if I understand the law correctly, they should be public domain by the 2050s? I am no lawyer, nor am I a film Director, so I’m not sure.

[@MrEmeraldMan]

in 2035 Imma make a batman film where he still has his parents.

[@imalsoscarlet8466]

In 2035 I'm totally writing a Batman that uses guns

[@gabrielmcmillan]

Start writing now, and publish it then.

[@knottyorchid1212]

Honestly if I was in charge of a public domain Batman movie. I’d turn it into a superhero mixed psychological horror movie. The roster included to use could make for some dark gritty violent moments

[@MaximusTheMad511]

Well, Detective Comics #38 came out in 1940 and that was the first appearance of Robin (Dick Grayson), Batman #1 came out the same year and that was the first appearance of Joker and Catwoman. So, in 2036 anyone could use not only the elements of Detective Comics #27, but also the friendly and smiling blue-caped Batman, the Boy Wonder, (the early) Catwoman and The Joker. That red car was technically the Batmobile so it will no longer be under copyright protection either.

[@luismedina5792]

I could see it being turned blue or have bits of black in someone's adaptation

[@ChristianIce]

You can use the grappling hook, of course :)

[@ThatWeirdLegoBuilder]

Guess I'm making a Star Wars movie 2072!

[@phrown4344]

One important point if you decide to do a Superman film: originally Superman couldn't fly; he just could cover great distances in a single bound. So if your Son of Krypton happens to fly, prepare for lawsuits. Also, you might be able to use Lex Luthor. Just remember that originally he was a red head (the baldness came later).

[@universalspaceexpeditioner8259]

One day I can also direct my own Batman. Here's my budget: A super market cart to act as the boatmobile, but I will call it batcart A hired clown to act as the Joker A guy to be the lead that I will pay with lemonade Its gonna be epic

[@felipeandmichelle]

I'm convinced they will find a way to change public domain laws right before this happens

[@damienphelps2824]

How?

[@felipeandmichelle]

@@damienphelps2824 I don’t know 😆

[@warioourgod6945]

pretty unrelated to the video but i just realized something- at around the 3 and a half minutes mark, you mentioned that there was a hypnotist monk that batman faced off against. this likely inspired an episode from the 2004 cartoon, the batman, where batman faces off against, you guessed it, a hypnotist monk named spellbinder. the episode was cool as hell and its pretty neat knowing that it was inspired by something from the very original source material

[@bitnewt]

I like the storytelling challenge of writing a Batman story without the concepts that are such a basic part of Batman that sometimes writers seem to have been forced to add them because "it's Batman, there has to be a Joker/Robin", but at some point I think it's easier and safer to temper expectations of audiences and lawyers and just make the character not immediately recognisably Batman.

[@TheTurtleNexus]

DC has been publishing elseworlds and imaginary stories for decades, so good luck finding a very unique world for the character. As for making characters not immediately recognizable as Batman... there are many Batman-like characters in the comic-book industry already, so this was never an impediment.

[@bitnewt]

​@@TheTurtleNexus Do you have any constructive suggestions for people who want to write Batman stories? I don't actually want to myself, but just for reference.

[@TheTurtleNexus]

@@bitnewt I'd suggest writing fan-fiction or writing for DC. Mostly because (from this day's POV), I cannot imagine anyone being able to use the character without running into legal obstacles. Reason being, that when you write a Batman story, you have to be sure not to go into familiar places, so you would need to be sure not to write a story with elements of the many thousands of comics and tv shows and movies about Batman (it would take you several years to catch up, and every year that passes, there are more new stories). I'd honestly pick a more obscure character with less baggage (that has been less exploited).

[@bitnewt]

@Vampunz Oooo Good to know!

[@nonameman7114]

@Vampunz penguin and scarecrow is a year or two after that.

[@lga4187]

Sometimes when I think about every single story and character being locked down forever and turned into assets I get so angry I start trembling.

[@MrJodrick]

Steamboat Willie is OURS

[@erockbrox8484]

I would literally be making the movie right now so that once the copyright expires the movie is already made and ready to be put in theaters.

[@oatlord]

Can i make a detective story that starts out mundane and slowly morphs into universe shattering occult fighting where batman has to prevent, something I dunno.

[@Inkdisc]

that sorta exists already. its called 'the doom that came to gotham'. idea is 1920s batman is facing off against his villains who all have a more supernatural and lovecraftian origin while something bigger is threatening gotham. an animated adaptation is coming out later this year

[@kelvinsantiago7061]

We already have Black Bat and he's awesome just look it up.

[@azn9636]

garth ennis deviously rubbing his hands together rn

[@fonttalk8065]

I'm curious about all the other stories in those early issues of Action and Detective. Most of those characters and stories are long abandoned so I bet a lot could come from those. I know there are other stories in the early Action Comics that are written/drawn by the creators of Superman so I feel like there is a lot that could be done there too.

[@nachoolo]

Mind you, both Robin and the Joker were introduced in 1940, a year after Batman's introduction. So you will only need to wait for 2036 to come for you to write a story with these two in it without getting sued.

[@pavma7]

Finally in 10 years I can make my Batman and The Shadow mistery movie.

[@jacksonmcquade7888]

He won't be in public domain in most of Europe until 2069, 70 calendar years after the death of the last creator 😑

[@krazykris9396]

And it's for that reason, there won't be any big budgdt batman works till after then (i.e. Batman becoming a part of marvel comics).

[@chrisfromsouthaus2735]

I can see the trademark loophole, and ancillary characters still being under copyright, leading to a lot of new works on these characters sounding like Chinese knockoff toys. "The Adventures of Batperson and Boy"

[@mateushenriquepinheiro3197]

The best part about Batman entering the public domain is that we can't have a blood and honey situation. Want to make batman a vampire? DC already did, want to make him a zombie? DC did that too, make batman a literal man bat? That's literally one of his villains, want to make him have a creepy and abusive relationship with Robin? We sort of already got that in a comic that DC published, want to make him a cold hearted murdered? DC already did it, want to make him a threat to the entire multiverse with a bunch of deranged kids turned robins while having him use the most edgy outfit ever? DC already did it Most horror concepts have been used in Batman comics or other versions of the character that you can't really do them, also Batman needs a good writer for it to work and a decent budget to sell the feeling of batman, something these shitty and low budget horror movie studios don't have (basically you need passion to write a compelling Batman, people that make quick and shitty horror products just to cash in on a character's popularity are not going to be able to use Batman in the slightest, they aren't creative or passionate enough to pull it off)

[@joe1205]

My Batman will have a sidekick called Redbreast who's real name is Rich Gray. His butler will be Albert Pence, and his arch nemesis would be the Jester.

[@TheOtherGuy021]

Yeah but a year after (1940) Joker first appeared in Detective Batman So would someone be able to use him then ??

[@natebennett2269]

IF Batman does become public domain, I can imagine this..... A Miami Vice version of Batman!

[@Buffy8Fan]

Copyright law is also one of the most convoluted laws out there. So what you can do with what (and even how a person is allowed to use it) will always be a tricky thing.

[@Martin_Aldana]

3:32 People would go nuts, that would be super hilarious to see, I mean I prefer a Batman who doesn't kill or use guns, but people I don't know exaggerate

[@boi2803]

Does this mean in 2035 Batman will be apart of ur Super Zeroes Universe?

[@jaxkommish]

Oh I love the optimism! WBros is gonna buy out some Congressmen and Senators and get an extension on all the comic book heroes from DC vaults

[@jamesknapp64]

I do think it will enter public domain but like Sherlock Holmes (which is in public domain) any one that makes a movie will get sued by WB/whoever owns Batman IP at that point saying that its using material still in copyright (with Holmes the series of short stories "His Last Bow" are still in copyright); this is what the Connan Doyle trust has done and do so with the Netflix series Enola Holmes (they settled out of court so unclear what actually happened).

[@TryinaD]

I think it’s better to use the Overwhelm and Flood strategy with creators from other nations - haven’t seen the Doyle estate have any issues with Moriarty the Patriot or any other international releases

[@cammoore___]

Now to be fair, for Robin and The Joker, we'll only have to wait a year.

[@silverdamascus2023]

Why public domain is a fair law: - In several countries, copyright only ends after the creator of the work has died, and if it is a company, it takes 70 to 95 years to end, by then the company has already closed, and if it exists, everyone who worked on the company back then has died or left. - Things like music, characters, stories, these are all just ideas, things in people's heads, you can't own an idea like owning something physical like a car or a house, if you make something, and someone takes it away without your consent, that's theft because you don't have it anymore, but if you make something and someone makes a copy, you still have the original, nothing was stolen, if you make a song, and another person sings the song without your permission, that person didn't steal anything from you, nothing was taken from you. - Copyright is not even actual property, it's just having an exclusivity to copy, share and make public exhibitions, if you write a book, you don't own the combination of words, they have to pay you to make copies or adapt to a movie, but you can't go to stores that already have the books and force them to take them off the shelves, much less go to the homes of the people who bought the book and force them to have the books returned. - Ideas cannot be locked forever, ideas have to be copied, expanded and improved, imagine if someone invented the cure for cancer, but kept the patent forever? The cancer problem would not be solved, a patent only gives exclusivity to the creator to become rich for about 20 years, then everyone can make the cure as well, with works of art, copyright lasts until the person dies. - Even after LEGO lost the patent on the invention of LEGO blocks and a lot of copies appeared, they are still the market leaders, public domain does not prevent people and companies from using their creations, it just takes away the exclusivity. - Copyright was created to encourage creativity, but with copyright lasting so long, it's holding back creativity, companies like Disney, Warner, Universal and Paramount own so many things that they don't need to create anything new, paradoxically, a big reason why Hollywood no longer invests in films with original ideas and only makes adaptations, sequels, remakes and reboots, the lack of public domain, allowing anyone to make them. - It's impossible to create something 100% original, everything has to be based on something that already exists, in a world without public domain, we would eventually get in an era where it wouldn't be possible to create anything without violating someone's copyright, a world where ideas cannot be copied would not be more creative, it would be less creative. - There are several orphan works, they say that if you want to use something that someone else made, pay the artist to use it, but there are cases where the artist has disappeared, you can't find him to pay a license, they don't know if he's alive or dead, or if he died, they can't find his family, and when companies go bankrupt, they sell all their works to pay the debts, and it is often difficult to know who the current owner is, the buyer may even have gone bankrupt too. - This also leads to lost media, many works of entertainment were lost forever, all their copies were lost or destroyed and we can't enjoy them anymore, this is still happening even now in the internet age, many works cannot be distributed thanks to copyright issues, public domain is a great way to preserve media for future generations. - Copyright became a mess, several companies are using it to censor people, and copyright rarely benefits the true creator of the work instead of the company that hired the creator, copyright lasting less would be a good idea to reduce this mess. - And of course, companies like Disney and several others, keep taking stories from the public domain to adapt to movies, series and other stuff, and even put restrictions when people adapt these stories so they don't take things from their versions, but their original creations, they don't want them to go into the public domain.

[@kabob0077]

I hope some people lobby to LOWER the amount of time a Copyright can be held... Hell, people these days would probably be all for it and if you can gain enough traction it'd make it easier to KEEP the Companies from extending Copyrights in the future.

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

And I hope that someone proves that leprechauns are real.

[@mss490]

I’m just waiting for The Phantom to go Public Domain. By 1936, imagine a golden-age-style Justice League-except-in-name-probably movie with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and then The Phantom and… I dunno what they’d do, per se, but they’d have a grand ol’ time adventuring or something :D

[@GnosticHermes]

You could still technically use Arkham (Sanitarium, not Asylum) since they took that idea from Lovecraft.

[@beesbeesbeesbeesbees]

The annoying thing about this situation is that even if you play by the rules and use only stuff that's actually in the public domain, WB could probably still nuke most content purely on the basis of "it has similarities to later, protected works." Sherlock's been dealing with this shit for years - the Conan Doyle Estate have tried to argue on multiple occasions that Holmes showing emotion AT ALL is a violation of copyright, for example. Even if you do use only stuff that's explicitly in P.D., something as simple as having Bruce Wayne wear a black dinner jacket could be latched onto as a violation of copyright by WB, and I don't think anyone would have the time or money to take that to court. I think the most likely outcome of this is that Batman, in P.D. at least, is treated similarly to pulp heroes like the Green Hornet or the Shadow today, albeit with a bit more reverence. I imagine there'll be a lot of takes similar to "Year One" in some ways, which again, WB will probably pounce on. It's all a bit of a mess.

[@nonameman7114]

Honestly you probably can’t even use the name Batman because they trademarked it.

[@wadebarnett2542]

I don't think the Doyle estate is fighting claims anymore.

[@SuperGamersgames]

2036 Fan-Comic Idea: The Judical Trio. Featuring the 1980s classic heroes Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. All teaming up for the "first" time ever to defeat an obscure Villian reference like (I don't know who, perhaps German spies to prevent WW3 keeping in with the times?). Taking place in New York City (or Metropolis if you could actually use it?), London (because of how the original character being based off of Sherlock Holmes, the Scarlet Pimpernel and the like, fitting into his heavy Detective introduction), and possibly Greece (in relation to Wonder Woman's initial background) to defeat the evils in the world! :P

[@danzirvine]

Anyone willing to do this PLEASE remember this is under American copyright. Should someone try to create a batman anything in America and sell it to the UK , it may still be hit with copyright as the UK laws state that copyright is the lifetime of the author (or the last member of a collective group) +70 years. For instance, Eric Carmens' song 'all by myself' samples/interpolates Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18. It was legal to do so by the time of the song release in America as it was in public domain. But once sold outside the states copyright infringement and legal issues occurred as it had iirc another 20 years. A settlement of 12% of royalties to the Rachmaninoff's estate was agreed on. In the case of the batman, since it's create by a duo - Bob Kane (October 24, 1915 - November 3, 1998) and Bill Finger (February 8, 1914 - January 18, 1974). In the UK it will be after November 3, 2068 when it goes into public domain.

[@UJEvans]

Oh. Wow. If Superman and Batman become public domain, Marvel will probably introduce their own versions to their universe, like they did with Frankenstein and Dracula

[@braydengraves4655]

They've already done that. I can't remember the names, though. DC did the same thing to Marvel as well-Aquaman was created as a Namor ripoff.

[@THE_bchat]

Marvel already has their own versions of Batman & Superman: Knighthawk and Hyperion from the Squadron Supreme. They've never even tried all that hard to hide that fact.

[@UJEvans]

@@THE_bchat I mean that they could literally make their own Bruce Wayne who lives on earth 616. Like how they have am official version of Godzilla living in their universe

[@THE_bchat]

@@UJEvans Toho owns the rights to Godzilla, which is currently licensed to IDW. Marvel doesn't have an official version of Godzilla, they use a mutated knock-off.

[@UJEvans]

@@THE_bchat well, yeah. But I mean that their licensed Godzilla stills exists in their universe.

[@williamhanekom9882]

I can definitely see some fun reimagined takes on the characters and rogues from the original comic, the monk and scarlet horde especially. Also it would be cool to see bruce doing a bit of detective work outside of the batman persona, similar to what they did in The Batman (2022)

[@JALaflinOfficial]

Austin, I'm curious if your superhero cu stuff will be public domain or at least creative Commons with attribution. I think It'd be amazing.

[@autoclock8650]

The bright side is that, for certain IP holders, it will be harder for them to sue, if you merely take inspiration from the original Batman character. You could have your own comic book, with your own original superhero, and then they run into a guy who looks a bit like a bat, but is called something else, and does stuff WB wouldn't, like blow guys heads off with a shotgun. Clearly not ripping off their Batman, any more than they are already ripping off the one created almost a century ago.

[@SkullcrackYT]

Why can't everything media related be public domain?

[@ductoannguyen7595]

Some media cost money,a lot of it,and investing a lot just to release it for free,and for everyone to take part of it,I’m sure that isn’t fair,and that’s why we have copyright.

[@RedOneM]

Grappling hook is a fare game. It's simply an item with utility.

[@matthewsmith2298]

Curse of the Cowl: A disgraced police detective named Jim Gordon has set out to redeem his reputation by going after Dream City's most imfamous serial killer The Bat. In the dark streets of Dream City. Gordon hides his identity moonlighting as a vigilante known as The Wolf. Armed with a wealth of funds from a unknown benefactor. Gordon lurks the streets inorder to find The Bat's true dentity and bring him to justice.

[@calebvangelder1101]

Did Austin just AI art a western batman, and a romance batman? well played.

[@tachytack]

he could've sourced to an actual artist who would've also done a way better job at it but noooo AI's just easier and cheaper right? who cares if an artist needs to eat

[@Uganivar]

@@tachytack he could search a job that actually give money ? Just an idea...

[@user-be5kj1bw3d]

Cry more luddite

[@tachytack]

@@user-be5kj1bw3d if only you understood the actual implications of AI oh you sweet summer child.

[@user-be5kj1bw3d]

@@tachytack Cry more, Luddite and keep blaming AI instead of actual social problems.

[@TheSecondVersion]

The mother of all post-credits scenes: The Bargain Bin Cinematic Universe Phase 1 Crossover film having the goddamn *Batman* show up

[@Jesup1204]

Question: is there any legal issues with writing a Batman story now and waiting to release it until 2035?

[@ender7278]

Nope

[@BATCHARRO]

In theory, but maybe not in practice, you can create it now and then schedule is for that time. Who knows about if KZbin will allow that to be monetized though?

[@criticalsoar3907]

If Batman became public domain there will 1000000% be a horror movie with Batman in it

[@luismedina5792]

so some kind of Victor Zaza re imagined or batman killing off criminals in brutal ways

[@matthewb5364]

That gavel clip having sound startled me!

[@anzahanifathallah]

really interesting and well-written video! not a big fan of the AI-generated images used here, though.

[@weshurst4895]

Robin and a lot of Batmans rogue debut a year later ; so yeah you can use the characters

[@googleaccount6291]

What happens when Austin McConnell enters public domain?

[@asaknight321]

A product having Public Domain sounds like the greatest and worst thing that can happen to a product.

[@keshi5541]

Because it is. I can imagine so many badly, crappily written fan fiction level Batman movies made after it is added to public domain. Maybe a few good ones too.

[@reptomicus]

"no Arkham asylum" Ironic since that was stolen from Lovecraft's Arkham Sanitarium.

[@5kwithoutanyvideos992]

Finally I can make my Winnie the Pooh space opera where he defeats cowboy Batman to save the universe

[@ToomanyFrancis]

Who needs public domain when WB will pay somebody millions of dollars to make a musical sequel to a villain-centric origin story that isn't even a spin-off of an existing series.

[@serviamstudios]

I thought this was a video about what happened when a real person becomes Batman

[@llyamall3692]

if it all works out, im honestly down for a 1969 batman movie adaptation