Copyright Questions « The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio

Copyright Questions

The following should not be interpreted as legal advice. This is simply the views of layman as to how shows are selected.

Q: When you say the shows you show are in the public domain, what do you mean?

A: Prior to February 15, 1972, Radio Programs were not covered under Federal Copyright law. All the shows that we use are made for U.S. audiences and were released prior to February 15, 1972. While, there are some instances where a domestic made show made after 1972 could be considered to not be under copyright protection for want of a valid copyright notice, as all the domestic shows I want to play were made before 1969 and most were made before 1962, I feel comfortable with the shows I have.

Q: What about foreign shows such as those from Australia?

A: There's some question about the status of radio shows that were never released in the United States such as Australia's Fat Man and Ellery Queen stories. Basically, the federal government took items that were considered to be in the public domain and declared them out of the public domain. Currently, lawsuits are proceeding through the court system on whether Congress can retroactively restore copyright protections. Until these questions are resolved in court, we won't be able to share any radio detective shows that weren't made for a U.S. audiences.

Q: Aren't there a lot of theories about Old Time Radio shows and their copyright status?

A: There are many theories posted online that state all sorts of information authoritatively, but really it's mostly speculative. There is no case law specific to old time radio, and statutes were not written with radio in mind. Unlike movies, music, and TV shows, old time radio isn't big business, so lawsuits are a high risk, low reward proposition. And consider that the reason networks stopped doing radio dramas is that they didn't see a commercial future in them. And even modern radio dramas that are sold on CD don't make massive commercial profits.

The various arguments posted online show that there could be a lot of good legal arguments held over old time radio shows in court. However, lawyers may need to do this in a mock court, as real clients will be hard to find. Until there is such a case (and as the years go by, the chances of an actual lawsuit decrease as potential clients die), there'll be ambiguity in the law.

To most people, Old Time Radio is within the public domain, and this includes some prominent organizations and companies. While Ebay will not allow you to sell a homemade copy of TV shows like Dragnet 1967 or Coach, it will allow you to sell pretty much any old time radio show you want burned on to a CD. In addition, Archive.org has a good Old Time Radio collection free to download, all licensed as public domain.

Whatever legal arguments are made online, it's hard to imagine the status quo changing.

Q: What about making old time radio products like T-shirts and coffee mugs? Are there any shows it is not okay to do this with?

A: Well, I can't say for sure which stories are okay. There are several shows that would not be okay, though.

The key example is characters whose radio show may be in the public domain, but the character himself isn't. One easy to explain example is the Superman Cartoons of the 1940s. These are in the public domain and have been sold in a variety of collections by many different companies. However, Superman himself isn't in the public domain, while the cartoons are.

Thus, I would not reccomend making any products for any character who is copyrighted for a movie or book. This is true of many radio detectives who first appeared in books or movies. Examples of such characters include:

Boston Blackie
Charlie Chan
Nero Wolfe
Philip Marlowe
Michael Shayne
Mr. Malone
The Saint
Mr. and Mrs. North
Nick and Nora Charles
The Abbots

This is obviously not a definitive list. So, it's important to know the origin of the character (book, movie, or radio). However, making new works based on Old Time Radio characters is hardly new.

There have been some works that have been released based on Old Time Radio Characters. Moonstone Books has produced several novels based on characters such as Pat Novak and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar.

The It's That Time Again is a series of short story anthologies based on Old Time shows that's up to its 4th collection. Their rules for inclusion is that the character must have originated on radio. In their latest edition, they make it exception for Sherlock Holmes (who is generally considered to be in the public domain.)