Topic on User talk:The King of the Monsters

From Wikizilla, the kaiju encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search

Godzilla will be in public domain?

7
Shinomura (talkcontribs)

I hear Godzilla would only be in the public domain in the year 2049... is this true?

Allosaurus (talkcontribs)

As I understand, when Godzilla will become public domain, then all movie companies will can use him and will can make their own Godzilla films. Am I right?

VaderRaptor (talkcontribs)

That will probably be irrelevant in the future because Toho can just rerelease the original Godzilla movie and the early showa movies to push the date back another 100 years from that rerelease date. (This is my understanding of it, I may be wrong)

Astounding Beyond Belief (talkcontribs)

According to this blog post, Godzilla (1954) will enter the public domain in the U.S. in 2049. In Japan, it's a bit less clear:

So, for Godzilla and every other Godzilla film until Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), who is the author? Godzilla films were usually more collaborative works than Kurosawa's films. The collaborative team for Godzilla included several people, principally Director and Ishiro Honda, Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka (who came up with the original idea), Special Effects Director Eiji Tsuburaya and Music Composer Akira Ifukube. Most of these men would comprise the team for the later entries in the Godzilla franchise until 1975. If the Kurosawa Rule is strictly confined to the director, then it would be Honda's death in 1993 that would start the clock on the 38 years for Godzilla and its first eight sequels. If on the other hand, Japanese law on co-authorship is more like that of the United Kingdom's when it comes to film (last to die of Principal Director, Screenwriter, Dialogue Writer or Film Composer), then it would be measured from Ifukube's death in 2006. Assuming that the statement “the copyright over films is protected for 38 years from the year after the death of the director” as translated on the akirakurosawa.info site applies to all pre-1970 films, then 2031 will see a lot of Godzilla enter the public domain in its native country.

Now, there's a major error by the writer here: Motoyoshi Oda directed Godzilla Raids Again, not Honda, and he died in 1973. So evidently the Kurosawa rule doesn't apply only to the director, or GRA would've become public domain in 2010. Of the film's writers and composers, the longest-lived was Masaru Sato, who passed away in 1999. That would put GRA in the public domain by 2037. Sounds like it would have to be settled in court either way, and I don't envy whoever tries to claim a Godzilla movie from Toho first.

It's also worth noting that Godzilla (1954) entering the public domain would not grant anyone limitless use of the Godzilla character, just the version in that film. If you wrote a story in 2049 where Godzilla had a nuclear pulse, spiky purple dorsal fins, or a tail beam, Toho would still pulverize you, because the films where those traits originated would still be theirs.

Confusing matters further, Godzilla's first media appearance was not the '54 film, but a radio drama adaptation, which aired from July 17 to September 25. That's an extremely obscure work, but expect Toho to bring it up in court if it has the slightest chance of extending their exclusive ownership of the character.

A number of American pop culture icons will enter the public domain before Godzilla, with Mickey Mouse first in line, so keep an eye on them for signs of how this is going to go.

Shinomura (talkcontribs)

Ok I understand... thank you!

The H-Man (talkcontribs)
Astounding Beyond Belief (talkcontribs)

From the Ars Technica article I linked to, seems like that's another question for the courts.