Is Azathoth, the daemon sultan at the center of the universe.....

Grumpy RPG Reviews

Explorer

• Aug 5, 2017

• #1

... in public domain?

Seriously, is he, (it?) in public domain? I want to use Azathoth in something i am writing, but my research is getting mixed responses. Namely, it seems to be both copyright (by Chaosium) and in the public domain. Any thoughts?

The same goes for Nyarlathotep.

 

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Kramodlog

Naked and living in a barrel

• Aug 5, 2017

• #2

All of Lovecraft's creations have been in the public domain for a while now, but it does vary from one country to the next. I believe the law in the US says they become public 75 years after an author's death. 50 years in Canada. This is why you might have scene James Bond lit sold by Canadian publishers.

 

Last edited: Aug 5, 2017

Grumpy RPG Reviews

Explorer

• Aug 5, 2017

• #3

(shaking my head)

It's not that simple. The Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) of 1998 extended copyright terms in the United States by 20 years. Copyright protection for works published before January 1, 1978, was increased by 20 years to a total of 95 years.

 

N

Nagol

Unimportant

• Aug 5, 2017

• #4

Grumpy RPG Reviews said:

... in public domain?

Seriously, is he, (it?) in public domain? I want to use Azathoth in something i am writing, but my research is getting mixed responses. Namely, it seems to be both copyright (by Chaosium) and in the public domain. Any thoughts?

The same goes for Nyarlathotep.

Click to expand...

Cthulhu stuff gets a bit murky. Some of Lovecraft's work is in the public domain (anything published before 1923). The material published after that falls under the 1976 copyright revamp that moved the copyright clock from publication date to author's death. Older works got a renewal option to move their copyright period from publication + 28 years to publication + 95 years, if a renewal was filed with the Copyright Office Additionally, works by other writers like Clark Ashton Smith, who built upon the mythos, are still under copyright.

 

N

Nagol

Unimportant

• Aug 5, 2017

• #5

In other words, there are some things Man is not meant to know. I think this is one of them.

 

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Staff member

• Aug 5, 2017

• #6

Could you not just use a different name and avoid the issue entirely?