M.C. Escher's estate seems to think his work didn't enter the public domain yesterday

Originally published at: M.C. Escher's estate seems to think his work didn't enter the public domain yesterday | Boing Boing

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Copyright is life + 70 years in the Netherlands which is where Escher lived (and presumably where his heirs live).

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In the US, too, for works published after 1978 (Sonny Bono Act), so I’m curious where the idea that the copyrights of a man who died in 1972 would all be expiring now comes from. Most likely the terms on many of Escher’s works have expired (under the pre-1978 regime), but IANACL.

[Ah, I see: reading the Public Domain Review site, they’re referring to the fact that Escher’s works have entered the public domain in

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For works published before 1978, the copyright is 95 years from date of publication. So, for a work of art he published and registered in 1940, say, assuming he renewed the registration in 1968 as required under the old regime, that work would still be protected by copyright until 2035. In other words, likely none of Esher’s works are in the public domain in the US.

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The M. C. Escher Company B. V. is indeed based in the Netherlands, so there is no change to the copyright status in its home country.

This is from the the page that @frauenfelder linked to:

THE M.C. ESCHER COMPANY B.V.
PO Box 101, 3740 AC Baarn - The Netherlands
Visiting address: Nieuwstraat 6, 3743 BL Baarn

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Ahh, that explains the recent article on Metropolis which is also still protected in its country of origin and much of the rest of the world.

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Very canny midjourney work, and
desiderata: That last sentence doesn’t scan just yet. But it’s Monday, so…oh yeah, pixel Lumpytouch Garfield versus M.C. Escher…



Castrovalva is a Greek Island with a Dutch Angle.

Oh! Wiseguy!

Gran, the cider vinegar isn’t cutting it for your Arthritis anymore, is it?

ETA: Say drawing hands, get 6 fingers because maybe pens are same? Also the AI erases the balloon figures walking in Castrovalva, so how do I substitute things there?

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I have not seen that work shown in the article before. What is it, a safe? handbag? It is Escher, right?

Escher meets Cyriak.

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Pah, your laws cannot stop me!

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