Happy Public Domain Day!
Okay, if you're confused, let me explain. Back in 1998, Congress passed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. This law changed copyright law in the United States so that the term of copyright was extended to the life of the author plus 75 years, 120 years after creation for works by a corporate author or 95 years from publication (whichever comes first). This law was heavily championed by the Disney company as the cartoon
Steamboat Willie was set to enter the public domain and they wanted to extend copyright to "protect" the character of Mickey Mouse. However, as a result of the law also being made retroactive, the end result is that nothing has entered the public domain in the United States in 20 years. That ends today, though. Starting today, works once again start entering the public domain, starting with works created in 1923 and before. So, creative types have unfettered access to them for adaptation and remix purposes. Some of the works that enter the public domain today include Cecil B. Demille's biblical epic
The Ten Commandments, the Harold Lloyd silent comedy
Safety Last and various Felix the Cat cartoons.
TenCommandments.jpg SafetyLast.jpg FelixtheCat.jpg
So, today the American public becomes the owner of a couple of famous pieces of cinema history.