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First Few Doctor Who Episodes May Fall To Public Domain Next Year

Posted by samzenpus on from the people's-doctor dept.

First time accepted submitter wmr89502270 writes "Doctor Who is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The special The Day of The Doctor will be broadcast simultaneously in over 75 countries and hundreds of cinemas in the UK. Across the world the hotly anticipated special episode will be screened simultaneously in full 3D. According to Copyright law of the United Kingdom, the copyright in a broadcast program expires 50 years from the end of the year in which it is broadcast, which means the first episodes will fall to public domain next year."

8 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. Although I must add... by Lirodon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It probably won't hit PD in America until 3025. Like any other cultural work.

    1. Re:Although I must add... by TWiTfan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      U.S. Copyright law stipulates that copyrighted works only fall into the public domain when Disney runs out of money to bribe Congress for another extension.

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    2. Re:Although I must add... by jedidiah · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It takes a lot to balance out all of the hypocrites that want to treat out planet like a toilet while pretending they defend the values of the Boy Scouts.

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  2. Doesn't mean you can copy it. by Jason+Pollock · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The music, script and everything else will still be under copyright, and those rights are required to make a copy of the show.

    What you _might_ be able to do is make a derivative work of the audio+video in the episode.

  3. Re:BBC's most effective copyright strategy in effe by BigBadBus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Also, don't forget that the Actors and Musicians union limited the number of repeats that could be shown in any given year; nowadays it seems to be mostly repeats with a few new programmes thrown in to the schedules occasionally.
    The Union members hated repeats as their members didn't get paid as much compared to first-run broadcasts. So effectively, the TV broadcasters were accumulating large amounts of material that they couldn't reshow.

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  4. Re:BBC's most effective copyright strategy in effe by odie5533 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You don't see any solution? How about shorter copyright terms so people can redistribute the works instead of needing to privately hoard them for 95 years.

  5. Re:Of course the actual copies existing is in doub by Godwin+O'Hitler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When *anything* is broadcast, nobody can be sure whether one day it will be part of our cultural legacy. Even when there's a time machine in it.

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  6. Re:Of course the actual copies existing is in doub by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Any form of entertainment that is enjoyed by a nontrivial proportion of the population is part of our cultural legacy. It's only later that you can tell how important a part it is.

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