Billy Dare and the Mystery in the Public Domain

boing
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Part of me is going to miss the creative dodges they did. I am reminded of the Maurice Leblanc character Herlock Sholmes.

In 1908, Leblanc wanted to do a crossover novel with Sherlock Holmes & his character Arsène Lupin, & when he discovered copyright laws wouldn’t allow it, he changed the character’s name to Herlock Sholmes, which was good enough for the copyright laws of 1908.

That wouldn’t be enough for copyright laws of today except this particular Arséne Lupin story is in the public domain & so Herlock Sholmes was definitely in the public domain for decades prior to the final Sherlock Holmes stories.

So, for example, Ace Attorney has a character that is definitely not based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes character, no, it’s obviously Maurice Leblanc’s Herlock Sholmes.

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I thought the real tragedy of the commons was when English landowners took over the commons and fenced it off to feed their own sheep for wool production.

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well, wikipedia does cite this new yorker article.

It’s a pity to reduce such a wide ranging and poetic essay to a mere cite

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The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose.

The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine.

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In celebration of one of this year’s newly freed works, my boys just finished making this new cartoon today:

I thought it ended up being fairly well-animated for a first-time effort. As for the plot, well, what do you expect from rebellious youngsters.

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Lovecraft encouraged other writers to build on his concepts, but I have never heard that he directly released his works into the public domain. They mostly entered the public domain some time ago because the copyrights weren’t properly renewed. Supposedly. It’s a bit of a mess with a few stories still allegedly under copyright.

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He did not. The rights for his works ended up with Arkham House, from whom Chaosium licensed them for Call of Cthulhu.

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Father Doyle does that, and even pokes fun at the irony that the case was solved by a dude who believes in an invisible sky god. :man_shrugging:

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Although, I recall some questioning Arkham’s claims to the rights. :woman_shrugging: :man_shrugging: :person_shrugging:

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I have discovered a long essay that attempts to explain how Arkham House claimed those copyrights.

https://www.aetherial.net/lovecraft/index.html

He mentions several competing theories, and links to various wills, agreements, and contracts.

I rather enjoyed the Arkham House editions; compared to Chaosium’s reprints, they were good quality printings.

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My favorite of this type is August Derleth’s Solar Pons stories. Derleth as a kid loved the Holmes stories and wrote to Doyle asking for permission to write more. He even offer to split the proceeds. Doyle turned him down and so Solar Pons and Dr Parker of 7B Praed St were born.

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That is an amazing looking resource! I will have to spend some time digging into it!

The Arkham House editions were great physical artifacts

I just wish that I could still enjoy straight up Lovecraft anymore. Love the other mythos stuff that has grown from it, but not really up for revisiting the man himself’s work

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that is awesome. nice job kids!

screw you disney, indeed. and the zombie-like copyright duration disney’s responsible for.

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That was delightful!

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Oswald looks like a bit of a rip-off of Felix the Cat.

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