How improve WW's position if rights become public domain like mickey and winnie?

[Agent Z]

I have yet to see the benefits of the Public Domain.

I feel like most of the support for characters like Superman and Wonder Woman going public domain is dislike for companies like Warner Bros and Disney, rather than any belief these characters going public domain will lead to an increase in quality stories.

[Fuzzy Mittens]

Plus it genuinely can be a desire to simply work with the characters.
Like this webcomic someone started https://mousetrappedcomic.blog/

Just a couple weeks ago this creative would be getting a cease and desist letter for it.

[Triniking1234]

I am going to be blunt here and say it:

For Wonder Woman, a lot of the stuff which will come out from the public domain would be high quality porn and other NSFW stuff.

Doesn't that come out now?

[Guy_McNichts]

Technically, I think most porn falls under the definition of "parody," so they rarely have to contend with copyright. The quality of porn is less about that and more about budget.

Or have we forgotten this:

[DochaDocha]

I think this is true for most characters, so it's kind of generic, but moving into PD I think just widens the spectrum of good and bad. Official DC/WB stories tend to stay middle-of-the-road in a lot of regards. On the good end, if someone really passionate and knowledgeable about WW has a lot of resources to put into a story, the sky is the limit. I think of things like Harmy's and the 4K77 Star Wars reproductions, Another Metroid 2 Remake, etc.: labors of love that took thousands of human-hours of work with no financial profit, but the passionate fans made it anyway. A WW fan with the time, talent, resources, and desire to drive a project on the level of those projects can create something really great in ways commercial art generally lacks.

[Primal Slayer]

Technically, I think most porn falls under the definition of "parody," so they rarely have to contend with copyright. The quality of porn is less about that and more about budget.

Or have we forgotten this:

It's 10x better than what nbc was able to produce

[Gaius]

Would be amusing if someone who does a public domain Trinity series; Superman who can only jump around and is a kind of a jerk, Batman who uses guns, and a Wonder Woman whose a cross between a priest and a dominatrix.

[Alpha]

The only projects I can imagine being made would be animated stories, maybe some videogames.

Live action stories seem very unlikely. Maybe she would be used in stories that aren't about her, but she comes in as a historical and ideological figure to debate feminism.

[Fuzzy Mittens]

Eh, I see alot of possibility
A number of comic minded folk will probably fool around with trying to make official Wonder Woman stuff without the constraints of editorial for good or ill.
Expect a few of those youtube channels to try doing Wonder Woman stuff to cash in on her emergence

Heck, Disney would in theory be able to do what they did with Sleeping Beauty and just make their own Wonder Woman movie since it would belong in the public domain.
Wonder Woman: Disney Princess

[thwhtGuardian]

Eh, I see alot of possibility
A number of comic minded folk will probably fool around with trying to make official Wonder Woman stuff without the constraints of editorial for good or ill.
Expect a few of those youtube channels to try doing Wonder Woman stuff to cash in on her emergence

Heck, Disney would in theory be able to do what they did with Sleeping Beauty and just make their own Wonder Woman movie since it would belong in the public domain.
Wonder Woman: Disney Princess

Eh, I just don't see that happening for one simple reason: incentive.

For an indie publisher or movie production company there is a large incentive for them to use big name public domain characters because it instantly raises the profile of their production giving them more eyes on their work and possibly gives them access to a wider audience from the property they are using.

Big name studious, comic publishers or star writer and artists don't have that incentive though. They are a large part of their own audience draws themselves and already have access to high levels of promotion so the main lure just isn't there.

Could there be someone who is a big fan and was always told no and they're just really excited to finally get their shot?

Sure.

But it's also just as likely that if that were the case they just used their idea in their own project, like George Lucas doing Star Wars when he was told "no" on Flash Gordon.

So more likely than not the public domain uses will be by lesser talents or just cash grabs.

[Gaius]

Article from Variety about this, mostly about Superman and Batman obviously but does mention WW. .

Found these bits interesting

Jay Kogan, DC’s deputy general counsel, laid out a strategy to protect characters that fall into the public domain in a 2001 article. Since only the older versions lose protection, he urged: “Keep ’em fresh and up-to-date.”

“By gradually changing the literary and visual characteristics of a character over time, a character owner can keep whatever the then-current image of the character is as the de facto standard in the public consciousness,” he wrote.

DC has done a careful job of tying the characters to itself by trademarking the terms “Man of Steel” and “Caped Crusader,” as well as Superman’s “S” and Batman’s logo.

Not a copyright or trademark lawyer but going off this I wouldn't be surprised if DC's lack of care in oversight of Diana over the years really comes back to bite them on this when early WW enters the PD. Obviously they've been pretty consistent on her appearance and logos in the past decade (since at least her movie appearance since 2016) but I'm seeing a lot of wiggle room if someone wanted to make their own version.

[Vordan]

Article from Variety about this, mostly about Superman and Batman obviously but does mention WW. .

Found these bits interesting





Not a copyright or trademark lawyer but going off this I wouldn't be surprised if DC's lack of care in oversight of Diana over the years really comes back to bite them on this when early WW enters the PD. Obviously they've been pretty consistent on her appearance and logos in the past decade (since at least her movie appearance since 2016) but I'm seeing a lot of wiggle room if someone wanted to make their own version.

My question is: does Diana falling into the public domain impact what origin they use? Because the clay origin WW will be the one that enters PD. With that in mind, it might explain why they have stuck to the Zeus backstory, that’s the kind “characteristic” being talked about.

[Primal Slayer]

My question is: does Diana falling into the public domain impact what origin they use? Because the clay origin WW will be the one that enters PD. With that in mind, it might explain why they have stuck to the Zeus backstory, that’s the kind “characteristic” being talked about.

I don't see why. DC isn't changing Supes or Bats origins for going into public domain

[Garrac]

i am a warhammer fan, and let me tell y'all: enterprises can get VERY WEIRD with their brandings.

[Gaius]

My question is: does Diana falling into the public domain impact what origin they use? Because the clay origin WW will be the one that enters PD. With that in mind, it might explain why they have stuck to the Zeus backstory, that’s the kind “characteristic” being talked about.

A public domain WW could feasibly use any origin they want but Diana as Daddy Zeus would probably be off-limits as that's not going into the PD in any of our lifetimes. Though I imagine some would go with clay as the origin for protentional protection, same way the Mickey stuff is using Steamboat Willie imagery. There is obviously clay origin WW's that will still be copyrighted but given DC's been pretty consistent for the past decade and assumingly stay so for the next decade, I don't think they could argue in court a public domain WW story that uses the clay origin infringes on their version of WW.

Honestly, it would put certain things in perspective since it sounds like Warners/DC big whigs have been thinking about this for a while now. Since at least 2001.

I don't see why. DC isn't changing Supes or Bats origins for going into public domain

Well they didn't have misogyny motivating the need to get rid of their origins, so they've been consistent Superman an alien from Krypton raised by human farmers and Batman is orphan whose parents were rich socialites.