The end of copyright for outstanding works and characters may cause doubts in artists, companies, and the whole industry. Therefore, technical clarifications on the matter become even more necessary.

In summary, copyright is the protection granted to the authors of original creative works once it is fixed in any form of expression. The author of an original creative work has patrimonial and moral rights, including the right to prevent others from using its work without authorization.

In Brazil, the patrimonial rights over a work are valid for the life of the author plus 70 years, counted from the first day of the year following the death of the author. On the other hand, in the United States, the term of copyright underwent several changes through the years, and, today, as a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years, and for anonymous works, pseudonymous works, or works made for hire, the term of protection is of 95 years from the year of its first publication or 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first. For works first published prior to 1978, the term will vary depending on several factors.

However, it is important to state that the expiration of protection of emblematic characters must be carefully analyzed, since the loss of protection over one version does not imply the expiration of protection over all variations of the same character.

Moreover, other Intellectual Property rights over the character, such as trademark rights, cannot be violated based on the fact that the term of copyright over a version of the character has expired.

Therefore, third parties who wish to use works in the public domain must pay attention to the limits of other Intellectual Property rights.

Furthermore, a work that has entered the public domain in the United States, for example, may not yet be in the same situation in other countries. Hence, it is necessary to verify the protection of the work in the specific territory before using it.

 

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