As Mickey Mouse finally enters the public domain after a grueling 95 years of legal disputes, the issue of the public domain and the laws that constrain it accompany it. The public domain in the U.S. is the collection of works — books, movies, songs or other artistic forms of expression — that can be used by the public for free. However, most works that enter the public domain usually do so after a waiting period of 95 years due to copyright laws within the U.S.
Throughout the last couple of years, notable stories and characters entered the public domain, ranging from “The Great Gatsby” to “Winnie the Pooh.” With each addition to the public domain, reactionary work is often made with the now-free entity. Examples of this include the Winnie the Pooh horror film “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” and “The Great Gritty,” an edited version of “The Great Gatsby” where Gatsby’s name is replaced with Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers mascot.
When works are officially added to the public domain, conversation about them lingers for a few days, but rarely persists for long. While it may appear largely irrelevant, the public domain is of great importance to the preservation of bygone cultures and the education of future generations. The songs about the struggles of love, the movies about historical eras and the books that inspired generations are all examples of what the public domain gives future generations access to. But as we move toward digital formats in lieu of physical works, much of the media we consume today is at risk of becoming lost long before it enters the public domain. Much of this risk stems from the fact that digital works can be removed forever with almost no effort. Failing to back up the drives these works exist on or accidentally deleting their files can result in their permanent deletion.
Because works are hardly safeguarded from deletion, the age of digital media consumption is a disaster waiting to happen. However, the destruction of media is nowhere near a new concept. One of the most notable examples dates back more than 2,000 years, with the burning of the Library of Alexandria — a great loss of historical and scientific knowledge that potentially had large effects on society’s trajectory. Although the destruction of media nowadays is quite different from what it looked like 2,000 years ago, it still has similar implications for societal progress.
The digital age of media presents a new problem in how we navigate safeguarding works for the public domain. With many works existing in a digital-only format, the ability to retain a physical copy of said work either no longer exists or often requires a great deal of effort. Beyond just how works are stored nowadays, how these works are given to the consumer is another hurdle. Many films, TV shows and songs exist only on streaming platforms. This means that those who want access to a certain work must pay to access it, but do not retain the rights to it.
Streaming services dictate the works that users watch on their site. Since the user pays for access to the service, they are given the ability to watch the works that the service retains rights to. But once the service ends its contract with a certain studio for the work or decides to remove the work for other reasons, the user no longer is entitled to seeing that specific work on the service. Although services usually dictate the works that are shown through contracts, productions made by the platform themselves are removable as well. In these cases, the works, if deleted, are removed in their entirety. In addition to streaming services, media distributors also retain the right to delete works that are sold to customers digitally.
As more and more media becomes available solely through digital means, the public domain now faces the looming threat of works being destroyed before they ever reach the time requirement of 95 years to enter into it. The public domain will become subject to the will of companies and creators, with the power to decide whether they want the media that they own to be distributed to the public or to be destroyed. We are already seeing companies destroy their own works for profit, and the federal government must take action to prevent the continuous loss of valuable media.
Despite the destructive threat posed by companies to public works, the internet currently has the means to work around it in the form of pirating. Pirating serves as a tool for users to access these works without paying the company who owns the work and facing the threat of a work being deleted. However, this tool is starting to come to an end as companies continue to crack down on the venture after suffering major monetary losses. Although pirating serves as a form to preserve the works that are subsequently deleted, it doesn’t mean it is a permanent solution. It’s this absence of a permanent solution that requires the government to intervene.
In taking steps to prevent the loss of media, the government should enact laws that require distributors to maintain a copy of their work in order for it to enter the public domain. This will ensure that the preservation of media will not be subject to the wills of companies. In accordance with this law, those who are destroying these works for their own benefit should face punishment for their role in actively trying to destroy history that might greatly benefit future generations.
Understanding the importance of the public domain is integral in the battle for preserved media and for our future. While physical copies of works still exist, look to take advantage of the DVDs and CDs that are still sold in stores. It may become an invaluable teaching tool about the past, should inaction continue.
Thomas Muha is an Opinion Columnist who writes about the legal and economic issues facing technology and the internet. He can be reached at tmuha@umich.edu or on X at @TJMooUM.