In this post, we will take a quick trip around copyright law and just how long copyright lasts. All in order to ask one (not so) simple question – how long is too long?

How long does copyright last?

In the UK copyright lasts your entire life plus a further seventy years. That’s all the time you can possibly enjoy the freedom to do whatever you want with your work with a further seventy years during which you are unlikely to care due to being dead.

That is long enough to potentially cover the entire lifetime of whoever gets your copyright after you expire. Which means that a re-imagining of something you are writing now could have to wait for two entire generations. For example, no one alive today can expect to see a fresh take on Harry Potter in their lifetime.

Who does this lengthy copyright term benefit?

While it might be nice to think that this enables authors to leave a good legacy to their children and grandchildren, that might not be what happens. Those who really benefit the most are the corporations that package, sell, and repackage popular works for a lot of easy profit.

In fact, there was a time when a copyright expired during an author’s own lifetime. About 28 years in most countries, perhaps renewable for another 28 years. Under pressure from corporations about to lose domination over Intellectual Property, governments have been persuaded to extend copyright further and further into the future. Which is how Walt Disney was able to take copyright free stories and then pretty much own them for a seriously long time.

This is why there are not hundreds of (arguably better) prequels to Star Wars. The copyright on that franchise is not going to expire in any of our lifetimes.

Why so long?

Copyright did not always last forever like it seems to today. However there is a certain mouse who is worth a lot to a certain media company.

Walt Disney is keen to maintain copyright control over Micky Mouse. For as long as they can do that, everything that came after Micky will never make it to the public domain. Which might seem like a double standard given most of Disney’s catalogue came from the public domain.

It might seem obvious to say but different countries have different copyright terms. However, most of which are life plus some long period thereafter. And those similarities are not accidental.

America puts a lot of pressure on her trading partners to adopt the same or similar copyright lengths as them. In turn Disney puts a lot of pressure on (and money into the pockets of) lawmakers to keep extending the length of copyright.

A brief history of copyright

This video does a good job of showing you the changes to copyright length over time. With each extension falling not so very long before Micky was about to become public domain. The history of copyright lengths is – more or less – the history of Walt Disney.

How long is too long?

How long is too long depends on who you ask. A company like Disney making good money from an IP is likely to tell you “more time, please” while artists hungry to draw on older works to make new works are likely to say, “come on now, you’ve had it long enough. Isn’t it time to share?”

Sherlock Holmes was first put to paper in 1887 although because the last story was published in the 1930’s, the Conan Doyle estate managed to maintain copyright protection. So a character created 128 years ago, until the recent court ruling, still required permission and hefty licensing fees.

Steve Schlackman, Is Copyright Duration Too Long?; Artrepreneur art Law Journal 2015

Part of the problem is that the most powerful voices in this debate have a massive financial incentive to keep control of copyright. Due to all that lovely income, they also come equipped with deep pockets and an army of solicitors, lobbyists, and spokespersons in favour of longer copyright protection. Which is why copyright keeps getting extended.

The result is that this issue of copyright length is complicated. More a matter of politics and money than a way to protect the creations of artists and writers. After all, when you are dead and gone, you cannot make new works, or update your works, or even notice what other people are doing with them. Yet should you gain even moderate success in your lifetime, there may be plenty of people who may enjoy cashing in on that after you are gone.

Lengthy copyright can cramp or stop new creative endeavours

Were it not for a certain law case dragging Sherlock Holmes into the public domain we might not have this film or this BBC re-imagining. And our culture would have been the poorer for it.

Had Shakespeare not entered the public domain we could have had The Lion King which is based on Hamlet, West Side Story (Romeo and Juliet), or Forbidden Planet (The Tempest). Start searching for modern stories based on the works of William Shakespeare and you will find a surprisingly long list. A list that only exists thanks to expiring copyright.

Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Superman (to name three potential examples) form part of our collective culture and yet none of us can do anything remotely creative with them. No one alive today will see any derivative works adaptations, or other artistic expressions with a licensing deal and a load of money added to the mix.

The rise of remakes

The trend for movie studios to recycle their own movies with remakes, reboots, and re-imaginings is not just about cashing in on a sure return. They are limited to building upon creative properties they already own. Why? Because since Micky Mouse was invented nothing fresh has been added to the public domain.

That is why studios are so keen to buy up any franchise they can get hold of. The race is on to find something new to make.

Our library of culturally significant ideas is locked up in vaults of big business. With many “orphan works” that cannot slide into the public domain and yet are without a known creator. Works that could be refreshed or distributed but for a total lack of a person or organisation legally able to give permission.

If modern books, movies, and TV seem repetitive and done to death, there is a good reason. It might well be because a wealth of creative building blocks are missing. Locked up by ever-growing copyright terms.

What can you or I do about this?

The short answer is, very little. Powerful money makers have deeper pockets and more incentive to keep extending copyright than the community creating new works.

At an individual level, there are a few things we can do. One thing we can do is share our work under a creative commons license so that people can build upon your work in a fair and complementary way. Another is to leave a provision in your will dedicating your work to the public domain either at the point of your death or some period thereafter that is – in your opinion – a fairer (shorter) length.

Beyond setting a better example ourselves, we creatives best contribution is to keep the copyright discussion in the public’s attention until a shorter or more reasonable term length becomes politically attractive. I would not advocate holding one’s breath on that front though.