Q: When will Japan's famous Nintendo characters enter public domain?
This list includes characters from the Super Mario series like Mario himself, The Legend of Zelda series characters with Link, Animal Crossing series characters with Isabelle, Splatoon series characters with Inkling Girl, Pikmin, the Kirby series with Kirby himself and last but not least. The Fire Emblem series with Marth. Alongside the designs of the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and Super Nintendo console design copyright patents. Mario and The Legend of Zelda alongside Pikmin was created by Shigeru Miyamoto while the others like Animal Crossing was made both by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami, Splatoon being made by Hisashi Nogami and Shintaro Sato, Kirby being made by Masahiro Sakurai and lastly the Fire Emblem series being made by Shouzou Kaga, Gunpei Yokoi. So I am wondering when Nintendo's main flagship IPS go into the public's hands.
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A:
Understanding when Nintendo's famous characters and technologies will enter the public domain involves a look into copyright and patent laws, which vary significantly by jurisdiction. Generally, copyright in many countries, including the United States, lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For corporate entities, which would include creations by Nintendo, copyrights last 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
For characters like Mario, Link, and Kirby, introduced in the 1980s and 1990s, their copyrights will not expire until well into the next century, assuming they were copyrighted at the time of their creation or publication. This timeline applies similarly to game designs and character specifics that are covered under copyright protection.
On the other hand, patents, such as those covering the designs of consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System or the Game Boy, have a different duration—typically 20 years from the filing date of the patent application. This means that most technological patents from the 1980s and 1990s have likely already expired, allowing the technical specifics of these older systems to be freely used by the public. However, the artistic and character-based copyrights will remain protected for a much longer time, preserving Nintendo’s control over their use and reproduction.
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