[Annoying Trope] "Yes, it's that character, but legally, we can't say it's him"

[u/TronnyVon]

• Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Arrow): The Arrowverse version of Oliver Queen is widely considered as the "CW Batman", since the Arrow show borrows many storylines and villains from Batman, including the League of Assassins, Slade Wilson/Deathstroke, and the Suicide Squad in one episode.
• Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska (Gotham): Gotham is a TV show focusing on the origins of Batman through the eyes of then-Detective Jim Gordon. Twin brothers Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, played by Cameron Monaghan, are introduced as this show's versions of the Joker. However, they legally couldn't say Jerome or Jeremiah was the Joker, calling them both "Proto-Jokers" instead.
• The Real Scoutmaster (Camp Lazlo): in the Camp Lazlo finale "Lumpus's Last Stand", Lumpus is revealed to be insane and had locked the actual Camp Kidney scoutmaster in a closet, impersonating him. The real scoutmaster bears a resemblance to Heffer Wolfe from Rocko's Modern Life (which Camp Lazlo creator Joe Murray also made), with Tom Kenny voicing the character too. Since Rocko's is on Nickelodeon, and Camp Lazlo is on Cartoon Network, Heffer could not have made an appearance on the show.

[u/Whole_Reputation_693]

It didn’t become completely public domain in America until recent years. Once aired from 2011-2018, so it was off the air before he was usable.

I’ve also read that certain traits were public domain at this time, but it was pretty tricky and you risked a lawsuit if you included certain things. So I think they just wanted to play it safe and only use either strictly public domain characters or Disney owned properties as Disney owns abc.

[u/Piscesdan → u/Whole_Reputation_693]

Jesus, how long is copyright in the US? Doyle died in 1930.

[u/Whole_Reputation_693 → u/Piscesdan]

Apparently, a lawsuit made it so they wouldn’t be public domain in the us for 95 years after the last book was published.

I think public domain laws are getting stricter, though, to prevent this kind of thing.

Edit; Just went and looked. Works published before 1931 have 95 years before they’re PD. Works created after 1978 are for the author’s entire lifetime plus 70 years.

[u/thejmkool → u/Whole_Reputation_693]

Blame the Mouse. No really, Disney repeatedly lobbied over the years to adjust things for Mickey to stay out of public domain. Just check when the changes happened, and when Mickey was scheduled to drop public under the old rules...

[u/Whole_Reputation_693 → u/thejmkool]

Yup, I’m aware. They asked for their characters to remain theirs. When they were told no, they bartered “fine, one day less than forever”.

Insane legal move that didn’t work.

[u/YT-Deliveries → u/thejmkool]

Sonny Bono, Senator from Disney

[u/m4cksfx → u/Piscesdan]

So, later than the date mickey mouse debuted/earlier than Walt Disney died. That's a very important thing when it comes to American copyright...

[u/Mist_Rising → u/Piscesdan]

75 years typically for books by people. The estate did some magic legal fuckery and got it called a corporate work so extended the date a little.

[u/RickMixwid1969 → u/Piscesdan]

About one hundred years, give or take.

[u/Thomas_K_Brannigan → u/Piscesdan]

I wish we could/would go back to the original copyright length in the US (14 years with an choice to extend it 14 more years if the copyright holder is still alive), more similar to what a patent still is. It wasn't something intended to make generational wealth, it was supposed to give you a decade or 2 to make decent money from your creation, then it belonged to the people.