James Bond in the Public Domain

[Venardhi]

Jack Kirby can't save some of the money from the first 70 years and put it away in a trust fund? Patents don't last longer than 14 years and they can be even more profitable. The patent system created because inventors were holding back their discoveries for fear of getting robbed, not because of some sense of indefinite entitlement for the exclusive rights to an idea to be traded around like a commodity a century later.

Look at all the people who are still exclusively profiting off intellectual property of the deceased artist. It isn't the grandchildren of the artists, it's the shareholders of the company.

Patents are an entirely different arena. If someone patents, say, a specific kind of hinge on a laptop, everyone else has to pay to use that hinge or anything derived from it. In the case of creative works, I can literally take the story of Lord of the Rings and replace the names of the characters, alter a few descriptions, put it in a new world, shuffle up their misadventures and be pretty much free and clear. Just ask Terry Brooks. The few exceptions (such as Harlan Ellison's successes suing various highly profitable film producers that admitted to cribbing from him) prove the rule. The burden of proof that I stole that creative work is so high it is nearly impossible compared with looking at two mechanisms and seeing that they work similarly.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Everything should be in the public domain, copyright and intellectual property are silly and should be abolished. I can maybe accept works being protected for about 10 years after first publication as a compromise but not longer than that. I have no idea why it has to be some time after the death of the creator.

These laws are silly and their only purpose is to make corporations richer, screw them, don't let them hold characters and stories hostage. Disney is one of the worst offenders, it probably wouldn't even exist today if it hadn't had access to the public domain, they had no problem using Snow White to save their own asses but if anyone dares to use the stupid dwarf names or the movie designs they get sued ... blergh. I despise greedy companies who have no problem using the public domain but do anything in their power to never add anything to it.

Speaking of what you said, I just came across this article from the Techdirt website, which is saying something similar to what you just said:

Die Another Eh: What Does It Mean Now That James Bond Is In The Public Domain In Canada?

 

[Relayer1]

If someone wrote new novels, they could do rather well.

People the world over would buy off Amazon Canada...

 

[tomswift2002]

Well here in Canada, in terms of copyright, we also don't have a "Works For Hire" clause. So, taking James Bond as an example, under Canadian Law, any othe James Bond novel written by another author will enter the public domain 50 years after the author passes, even though the current James Bond holders will still hold the James Bond copyright.

Another series to look at is the Star Trek line. When we look at the James Blish novels (I believe Blish died in 1976), Blish's novels, aside from the one with J.A. Lawrence, will enter the Public Domain here in Canada around 2026. "Mission Tor Horatius" may be even earlier.

 

[eyeresist]

After-all, once the creator dies he can no longer profit from it and, arguably, none of his surviving family has a "right" to profit from his work. But even-then it's a grayish area.

Yes, history has shown that if the estate of an artist has posthumous control of a property, they tend to restrict exploitation of that property to preserve its integrity and dignity, in a way which someone like Rupert Murdoch would find anathema.

If an artist does have moral right of control over their work in their lifetime, arguably they should also be able to appoint someone to curate their work after death. In that case, there should be a proviso that if the estate permits NO reproduction or exploitation of the property, then rights should be divested to an alternate manager OR put in the public domain.

Properties owned by commercial entities regarded by law as "individuals" are a separate matter. The company should be regarded as estate manager, with above-named limitations, and should not be regarded as possessing the moral rights of the original artist. I also think there should be a definite separation between IP as a trademark, and salable products generated using that IP.

Thankfully we (or most of us) seem to be past that "golden age" when Metallica were regarded as evil for wanting to make money by selling records.

 

[Daddy Todd]

I've long dreamed pf a James Bond series (maybe on TV) that faithfully adapts the Fleming novels and stories in period -- that is, Casino Royale takes place in 1952, Live and Let Die in 53, etc. The novels could be broken into hour-long chunks pretty easily, since Fleming wrote good cliffhangers to climax just about every chapter.

No goofy gadgets, no "Shaken, not stirred." Just Fleming's Bond. I'd love to see that.

Now that the books are PD in Canada, maybe a Canadian network will take it up.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I will say, maybe the heirs should be in control of the specific creative works. Specific material that has already been produced.

But letting them sue somebody else for telling a new story with the same character a hundred years later is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Australis]

Doesn't Goldenye hold the copyright anyway?

I've long dreamed pf a James Bond series (maybe on TV) that faithfully adapts the Fleming novels and stories in period -- that is, Casino Royale takes place in 1952, Live and Let Die in 53, etc. The novels could be broken into hour-long chunks pretty easily, since Fleming wrote good cliffhangers to climax just about every chapter.

No goofy gadgets, no "Shaken, not stirred." Just Fleming's Bond. I'd love to see that.

Absolutely.

 

[Beagleman]

I've long dreamed pf a James Bond series (maybe on TV) that faithfully adapts the Fleming novels and stories in period -- that is, Casino Royale takes place in 1952, Live and Let Die in 53, etc. The novels could be broken into hour-long chunks pretty easily, since Fleming wrote good cliffhangers to climax just about every chapter.

I love the movies dearly but that would be fantastic. There is more than enough room for different interpretations.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

I've long dreamed pf a James Bond series (maybe on TV) that faithfully adapts the Fleming novels and stories in period -- that is, Casino Royale takes place in 1952, Live and Let Die in 53, etc. The novels could be broken into hour-long chunks pretty easily, since Fleming wrote good cliffhangers to climax just about every chapter.

No goofy gadgets, no "Shaken, not stirred." Just Fleming's Bond. I'd love to see that.

Now that the books are PD in Canada, maybe a Canadian network will take it up.

Be warned-those books can be pretty racist and sexist/misogynistic, in particular Live and Let Die .

 

[Owain Taggart]

I've long dreamed pf a James Bond series (maybe on TV) that faithfully adapts the Fleming novels and stories in period -- that is, Casino Royale takes place in 1952, Live and Let Die in 53, etc. The novels could be broken into hour-long chunks pretty easily, since Fleming wrote good cliffhangers to climax just about every chapter.

I think a better idea would be for them to create an entirely new character working in the same organization, that way they wouldn't have so much trouble with copyright in different countries, and they'd be able to do whatever they want with him.

Bond does a lot of on-location shooting though, so I'd imagine it would be a rather expensive show to make. As it is though, Canadian networks just don't have the resources to pull something off like that, at least not on its own.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

They have considered spin-offs a few times, mainly in the Brosnan era with Michelle Yeoh's Wai Lin (Tomorrow Never Dies) and Halle Berry's Jinx. Thankfully they dropped those. Although they nearly brought Yeoh back in the latter for a short cameo (Her part eventually turned into the Masseuse and Chang in the Hong Kong portion of the finished film). Both characters were created for the films.

 

[Melakon]

If the earliest books are public domain, wouldn't the characters of Bond and some of his pals still be protected? Fleming's last book was published in 1966, two years after his death.

 

[Relayer1]

I think a better idea would be for them to create an entirely new character working in the same organization, that way they wouldn't have so much trouble with copyright in different countries, and they'd be able to do whatever they want with him.

I've always loved seeing the references to other '00' agents, brief as they have been, except for Sean Bean's 006.

A show featuring one or more other agents wouldn't even need much material from the books/films - 'M', Tanner, the armourer, '00' prefixes...

May I suggest 'Her Majesty's Secret Service' as a name for the show ?

 

[Gaith]

If the earliest books are public domain, wouldn't the characters of Bond and some of his pals still be protected? Fleming's last book was published in 1966, two years after his death.

As I understand it, it depends on what element was introduced when. If the first Bond book enters the public domain, that doesn't mean you can retell or substantially incorporate backstory of that same character revealed in a later work still under copyright.

This is actually currently the case with Sherlock Holmes, as Doyle's final few short stories are not yet public domain. (Not that too many authors are likely to want to build on them, though - they were crap to passable.)

 

[Owain Taggart]

I think a better idea would be for them to create an entirely new character working in the same organization, that way they wouldn't have so much trouble with copyright in different countries, and they'd be able to do whatever they want with him.

I've always loved seeing the references to other '00' agents, brief as they have been, except for Sean Bean's 006.

A show featuring one or more other agents wouldn't even need much material from the books/films - 'M', Tanner, the armourer, '00' prefixes...

May I suggest 'Her Majesty's Secret Service' as a name for the show ?

Exactly! It gets away from anything that might mean trouble in terms of copyright. They could even set it in any era they wish. Or maybe each season could be a different era, focusing on a different agent. They could even have references to the movies, without tying themselves too much to them.

And good name. I like it Though the right holders might object to it as it's too similar to the name of the movie.

Another thing about this is that, all the suggested actors for Bond over the years could essentially play some of these agents.

 

[Relayer1]

I think a better idea would be for them to create an entirely new character working in the same organization, that way they wouldn't have so much trouble with copyright in different countries, and they'd be able to do whatever they want with him.

I've always loved seeing the references to other '00' agents, brief as they have been, except for Sean Bean's 006.

A show featuring one or more other agents wouldn't even need much material from the books/films - 'M', Tanner, the armourer, '00' prefixes...

May I suggest 'Her Majesty's Secret Service' as a name for the show ?

Exactly! It gets away from anything that might mean trouble in terms of copyright. They could even set it in any era they wish. Or maybe each season could be a different era, focusing on a different agent. They could even have references to the movies, without tying themselves too much to them.

And good name. I like it Though the right holders might object to it as it's too similar to the name of the movie.

Another thing about this is that, all the suggested actors for Bond over the years could essentially play some of these agents.

An Anglo-Canadian production ?

Could you start looking for some office space and a decent legal rep for us ?

 

[Australis]

The new movie Kingsmen, anyone?

 

[tomswift2002]

If the earliest books are public domain, wouldn't the characters of Bond and some of his pals still be protected? Fleming's last book was published in 1966, two years after his death.

As I understand it, it depends on what element was introduced when. If the first Bond book enters the public domain, that doesn't mean you can retell or substantially incorporate backstory of that same character revealed in a later work still under copyright.

This is actually currently the case with Sherlock Holmes, as Doyle's final few short stories are not yet public domain. (Not that too many authors are likely to want to build on them, though - they were crap to passable.)

Here in Canada even the last 10 Holmes stories are in the Public Domain, as the copyright goes from the author's death. So as a result all the Holmes stories have been Public Domain since 1980 here in Canada. It's only in the US that those stories are still under copyright.

And anything published posthumously, as I understand copyright law here in Canada, is under copyright for 50 years from publication.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I've always loved seeing the references to other '00' agents, brief as they have been, except for Sean Bean's 006.

A show featuring one or more other agents wouldn't even need much material from the books/films - 'M', Tanner, the armourer, '00' prefixes...

May I suggest 'Her Majesty's Secret Service' as a name for the show ?

Exactly! It gets away from anything that might mean trouble in terms of copyright. They could even set it in any era they wish. Or maybe each season could be a different era, focusing on a different agent. They could even have references to the movies, without tying themselves too much to them.

And good name. I like it Though the right holders might object to it as it's too similar to the name of the movie.

Another thing about this is that, all the suggested actors for Bond over the years could essentially play some of these agents.

An Anglo-Canadian production ?

Could you start looking for some office space and a decent legal rep for us ?

Heh, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I hold absolutely no power Always fun to fantasize about these things though.