Lovecraft Public Domain Scare
Over the years fans of H.P. Lovecraft have wondered when crazy people would stop claiming to own rights to Lovecraft’s work.
Recently, I was looking into doing some animation style work, and, being not particularly creative, thought I’d play with some of Lovecraft’s work. In order to avoid a lawsuit I thought it a good idea to find something no longer under copyright, which is a task easier said than done. In fact Chris Karr wrote this snazzy essay on the Lovecraft copyright insanity.
However, the old rule on copyright was that a work, if properly copyright to begin with, is covered until 70 years after the author’s death, a date that just came and went last year. The new rule is something about 95 years after publication if properly renewed. (This whole thing is way more complicated than I’m letting on, just read Karr’s essay. It helps.) Well, depending on how you look at it, nearly all of Lovecraft’s work should be in the Public Domain. Or not.
On the bright side, all of Lovecraft’s work written pre-1923 is in the Public Domain, no matter how many crazy people claim to own it. Handly within that time period is Herbert West: Reanimator. Made into a film by Charles Band some time ago (I’m too lazy to look it up right now) starring Jeffrey Combs. Very funny movie.
Now, animating Reanimator while conceptually funny, would be a bear as a first project, so I decided to just make a recording of it. And the first part of it I finished up just last week. However, I sound like I have a head cold throughout most of it, so I might have to give it another go. If I still sound all stuffy I guess I’ll have to come to terms with the fact that I sound like some kind of plague rat most of the time and post the thing here.
And that’s what’s in your future, a modern Frankenstein story read by a guy with a head cold. Tune in next time or you just might miss out on that.
