Hello
I believe these are in the public domain can anyone confirm this? Are all 1930s images of the Betty in the public domain? I can't seem to find a definitive list. Also, are all the other characters from that era in the public domain, Koko the clown and her dog etc? Thanks Sallie
Betty Boop 1930s Paramount Posters
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sallieforth
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Re: Betty Boop 1930s Paramount Posters
Hi sallieforth,
To answer these questions you need to understand how the copyright system in the USA operated prior to the 1976 Copyright Act. In broad terms everyting that required to be protected by copyright had to be registered. Registration granted 28 year's worth of protection and this could be extended to 56 years provided that the necessary formalities were completed in the 27th year. A registration fee had to be paid on both occasions, so if something had no intrinsic value because wasn't for sale, such as movie posters or flyers, they often weren't registered, or if they were initially registered, the registration wasn't renewed. So this may well be the reason that you have found the posters are no longer in copyright. However the characters themselves had continuing value and so they were registered, either as individual images or in the entirety of a cartoon film as a series of still images. What's more, as the characters were redrawn in updated versions, like Mickey Mouse, the copyright clock started again for the new version.
In order to find out if any particular item (film or poster etc) or character is still protected by copyright you need to look at the early copyright registrations and also check for the re-registrations 27 years later. You can access the historic US Copyright Office Registrations via this portal: Copyright Registration and Renewal Records, but be warned, the search function is not easy to use*. There is a handy guide which then helps you determine if or when the copyright ended: https://guides.library.cornell.edu/copy ... blicdomain
As a rule of thumb, any character which had a lifespan beyond a single film (so many of the Disney characters as well as those of the other main studios such as Fleischer which produced the Betty Boop films) were registered and the copyright registrations renewed, so that by the time of the 1976 Act, which had retrospective effect, they were granted for the full term of 95 years from publication because these assets were corporately owned. Thus anything first published before 1 Jan 1929 is almost certainly in the public domain, but major films and characters after that date are probably still protected.
* Prior to 1947 films or motion pictures were listed under Part 1 Group 3, and thereafter in Parts 12 and 13. Renewals appear in different parts from initial registrations.
To answer these questions you need to understand how the copyright system in the USA operated prior to the 1976 Copyright Act. In broad terms everyting that required to be protected by copyright had to be registered. Registration granted 28 year's worth of protection and this could be extended to 56 years provided that the necessary formalities were completed in the 27th year. A registration fee had to be paid on both occasions, so if something had no intrinsic value because wasn't for sale, such as movie posters or flyers, they often weren't registered, or if they were initially registered, the registration wasn't renewed. So this may well be the reason that you have found the posters are no longer in copyright. However the characters themselves had continuing value and so they were registered, either as individual images or in the entirety of a cartoon film as a series of still images. What's more, as the characters were redrawn in updated versions, like Mickey Mouse, the copyright clock started again for the new version.
In order to find out if any particular item (film or poster etc) or character is still protected by copyright you need to look at the early copyright registrations and also check for the re-registrations 27 years later. You can access the historic US Copyright Office Registrations via this portal: Copyright Registration and Renewal Records, but be warned, the search function is not easy to use*. There is a handy guide which then helps you determine if or when the copyright ended: https://guides.library.cornell.edu/copy ... blicdomain
As a rule of thumb, any character which had a lifespan beyond a single film (so many of the Disney characters as well as those of the other main studios such as Fleischer which produced the Betty Boop films) were registered and the copyright registrations renewed, so that by the time of the 1976 Act, which had retrospective effect, they were granted for the full term of 95 years from publication because these assets were corporately owned. Thus anything first published before 1 Jan 1929 is almost certainly in the public domain, but major films and characters after that date are probably still protected.
* Prior to 1947 films or motion pictures were listed under Part 1 Group 3, and thereafter in Parts 12 and 13. Renewals appear in different parts from initial registrations.
Advice or comment provided here is not and does not purport to be legal advice as defined by s.12 of Legal Services Act 2007