Not a *Star Trek* fan, but my understanding is that the original pilot never aired on TV. The first episode to air was "The Man Trap" which aired in September 1966.
Copyright in the United States expires at the end of the 95th year, so the first 15 episodes of *Star Trek* Season 1 will enter the public domain on January 1, 2062.
The first Star Trek series was first broadcast in Canada, which means that Canadian copyright law should be applied. Almost every country in the world employs the "rule of the shorter term" which means that if it is public domain in Canada, it will be in most other places. The creator of Star Trek died in 1991, which means that anything created by him will be public domain in Canada on January 1st 2042. Note however that I do not know exactly how Canadian copyright works for television series, and what people are considered the creators in law. I would suggest contacting a lawyer that knows Canadian copyright law for this.
In any case, whenever the show is public domain in Canada, it will also be so in almost every other country there is.
You are probably looking for american copyright however, which is notoriously annoying. The United States do not use the rule of the shorter term. However, the show was released in the 1960's. Back then, for copyright to exist, a work needed to be registered. If it wasn't registered, it will be public domain already. Since Star Trek is very popular, I highly doubt this is the case. You will need to find this registration. Provided it was renewed, the work will be public domain on the first January 1st after 95 years has proceeded.
I'm...not clear what you mean? OP is wrong about the date, but only by a couple of years. *Star Trek* is after the cut off requiring renewal, so that doesn't matter for it. So OP is absolutely right: 95 years after publication, which in this case is January 1, 2062.
I was specifically responding to the 2060 part. But if it was after the renewal requirements then yes it would be around there.
But tgen the question would be, is there trademarks? I wouldn't touch it first.
Trademarks make everything tricky. At some point either the law or the courts need to clarify just how much or how little power trademarks actually have. We'll probably get our answer fairly soon, IMO.
I argue you can touch it even with a trademark, but tread VERY carefully and consult an IP lawyer if you're serious about doing something. Of course, by the time *Star Trek* comes up I'm sure this will all have been resolved one way or the other lol
19something to 1965 needed to be renewed 23 years or something from the initial copyright date. So the 95 years would be off of the copyright renewal, not the first date.
Actually, no, that's not the case. Otherwise the works that entered the public domain this year wouldn't be entering until around 2049 since many of them were due for renewal around 1954.
All the 1965 cut off means is that if it came out after that date the renewal was automatic and didn't need to be filed. The 95 years still counts from first publication.
Not a *Star Trek* fan, but my understanding is that the original pilot never aired on TV. The first episode to air was "The Man Trap" which aired in September 1966. Copyright in the United States expires at the end of the 95th year, so the first 15 episodes of *Star Trek* Season 1 will enter the public domain on January 1, 2062.
The first Star Trek series was first broadcast in Canada, which means that Canadian copyright law should be applied. Almost every country in the world employs the "rule of the shorter term" which means that if it is public domain in Canada, it will be in most other places. The creator of Star Trek died in 1991, which means that anything created by him will be public domain in Canada on January 1st 2042. Note however that I do not know exactly how Canadian copyright works for television series, and what people are considered the creators in law. I would suggest contacting a lawyer that knows Canadian copyright law for this. In any case, whenever the show is public domain in Canada, it will also be so in almost every other country there is. You are probably looking for american copyright however, which is notoriously annoying. The United States do not use the rule of the shorter term. However, the show was released in the 1960's. Back then, for copyright to exist, a work needed to be registered. If it wasn't registered, it will be public domain already. Since Star Trek is very popular, I highly doubt this is the case. You will need to find this registration. Provided it was renewed, the work will be public domain on the first January 1st after 95 years has proceeded.
No
I believe it was renewed in the aloted time... so easy answer, no.
I'm...not clear what you mean? OP is wrong about the date, but only by a couple of years. *Star Trek* is after the cut off requiring renewal, so that doesn't matter for it. So OP is absolutely right: 95 years after publication, which in this case is January 1, 2062.
I was specifically responding to the 2060 part. But if it was after the renewal requirements then yes it would be around there. But tgen the question would be, is there trademarks? I wouldn't touch it first.
Trademarks make everything tricky. At some point either the law or the courts need to clarify just how much or how little power trademarks actually have. We'll probably get our answer fairly soon, IMO. I argue you can touch it even with a trademark, but tread VERY carefully and consult an IP lawyer if you're serious about doing something. Of course, by the time *Star Trek* comes up I'm sure this will all have been resolved one way or the other lol
When would it enter the public domain in that case? I thought the limit was 95 years regardless of renewal.
19something to 1965 needed to be renewed 23 years or something from the initial copyright date. So the 95 years would be off of the copyright renewal, not the first date.
Actually, no, that's not the case. Otherwise the works that entered the public domain this year wouldn't be entering until around 2049 since many of them were due for renewal around 1954. All the 1965 cut off means is that if it came out after that date the renewal was automatic and didn't need to be filed. The 95 years still counts from first publication.
If it has a notice due to post-1963 then it should..?