'Peter Pan' is public domain in many countries, but in the UK hospitals have the right to claim usage fees

' Peter Pan ', widely known for picture books, movies, musicals, etc., is a work by novelist and playwright Sir James Matthew Barry. Barry died of pneumonia in June 1937, and in 2023, the 90th anniversary of his death, it will be public domain by region, but in the UK, by law, payments to hospitals with rights are semi-permanent. is required.

Peter Pan Copyright | Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity | Great Ormond Street Charity

Barry was born in Scotland in 1860. An avid reader since childhood, he wrote his first play in his teens.

Barry, who made a name for himself with his novels and plays, created the play 'Peter Pan: The Boy Who Never Grows Up,' which was first performed in 1904. In 1911, Barry published a novel based on the play, Peter and Wendy.

In April 1929, Barry donated the copyright to these 'Peter Pan' works to Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children's hospital in London. By acquiring the copyright, the hospital received royalties for performances of 'Peter Pan', commercial publications, and adaptations of the works, making it an important source of income for its activities.

However, copyright has a limited term of protection. Barry died of pneumonia in June 1937, so on December 31, 1987, the copyright protection period for 'Peter Pan' expired in the UK and European countries.

However, due to the directive issued in 1995 to guarantee a common copyright protection period among EU member countries, the copyright protection period in the UK has changed from '50 years after the death of the author' to '70 years after the death of the author'. ”, and the retroactive application of the directive has temporarily revived the copyright of “Peter Pan” until 2007, but it has expired again. In other words, in European countries, 'Peter Pan' is public domain.

However, in 1988, in the United Kingdom, due to the efforts of former Prime Minister James Callahan , Section 301 was added to the Copyright and Design Patent Act (CDPA). Section 301 provides an exemption that states that Great Ormond Street Hospital may charge royalties for performances, publications and adaptations of 'Peter Pan' regardless of whether the copyright has expired. So unless this article is repealed, in effect, royalties will be required in perpetuity in the UK.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/301

Please note that Article 301 of the CDPA is British law, so it does not affect other European countries that have already been made public domain. Also, it is already in the public domain in Japan.

However, in the United States, the copyright protection period is ``95 years from the first appearance of the work'', so the novel ``Peter and Wendy'' published in 1911 is in the public domain, but the play ``Peter Pan'' is counted from the performance in 1928. Therefore, the protection period remains until December 31, 2023.

The most recent story about the copyright protection period is A.A. Milne's novel ' Winnie the Pooh', which expired at the end of 2021. Nokuma-san (Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey)” has been produced and released.

Movie `` Pooh Akuma no Kuma '' This notice released on Friday, June 23-YouTube


Tetsuya Imamura of Waseda University, who is well versed in intellectual property law, wrote in a column for the Research Center for Intellectual Property Law, ``If this (permanent copyright) is generally accepted, it will end the life of cultural development. It disappears after a certain period of time, and as a result, culture develops in order to feed future generations.” It is expressed as 'a smart arrangement'. As for whether the same kind of legislation is possible in Japan, he concludes, ``It would be theoretically difficult from the perspective of whether it falls within the scope of ``legislation'' that the Diet can enact under the constitution.'' increase.

peter pan method
https://www.rclip.jp/activity/column8.html