Are Lovecraft's writings in public domain; Cthulu names free to use?

[TerraDave]

it was still not available in the 70s when TSR tried to use it. it could have become available since then, but i doubt it.

But see that is the thing, the (or a) "real story" about this says that TSR did not need the rights for the first Dieties and Demigods. There was a gentlemen's agreement to acknowledge Chaosium, but even that was not legally required. (The Chaosium related material was pulled later for some other reason)

Some googling can probably get to the bottom of this, but I am pretty sure most of it is in the public domain

 

[Turanil]

Okay, thanks for your help all.

If the 75 years after death can apply, Lovecraft's texts will be in the public domain in 2012. On the other hand, people at yogsothoth.com didn't answer my question. So in the end, I will go with a different name, but a similar description of the creatures (mainly the Great Race of Yith, Elder Things, and my favorite: Mi-Go), and a similar drawing. As such I should not infringe copyrights (I hope), and those interested in using it Cthulhu, will easily use the ones from CoC if need be.

 

[TerraDave]

Turanil,

Don't give up hope!

This has been discussed here before:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40097&page=1&pp=20

here is one list of HPL's public domain work:

http://acadine.org/index.php/H.P._Lovecraft

The say the Cthulhu series of stories are still copyrighted (a lot of earlier work is public domain), but there are a lot of indications that the stuff in the stories is public domain, like this quote from here

E8: What was removed from Deities & Demigods?

A: The first printing of Deities & Demigods included the mythoi of Cthulhu and Melnibone. The ideas behind the Cthulhu mythos were in the public domain at that time, but copyright on the Cthulhu books in print was owned by Arkham House, who had licensed Chaosium to create a Cthulhu RPG based on those books. TSR thought the public domain status allowed
them to create game representations of whatever Cthulhu creatures they desired, and so that mythos was added to Deities & Demigods. TSR then contacted Michael Moorcock, who gave permission for TSR to include the Melnibonean mythos in Deities & Demigods. However, again, Chaosium had already arranged for a license to create an Elric RPG. Chaosium became upset that TSR was apparently violating Chaosium's licenses, and the print run of Deities & Demigods was halted while the two companies sat down to talk. Eventually, they agreed that TSR could continue printing the books with the two mythoi as is, on the condition that a note be added to the preface: "Special thanks are given to Chaosium, Inc. for permission to use the material found in the Cthulhu Mythos and the
Melnibonean Mythos." The printing plates were changed, and the first printing continued.
When the time for a second printing came, the Blume brothers decided that a TSR book should not contain such a prominent reference to one of their competitors. They decided to remove the two mythoi, and thus the need for the note. (Apparently, Gary Gygax offered to write up two new mythoi to fill the space, but the Blumes decided they could make more money charging the same price for a book with fewer pages.) Later, the book--still without the two mythoi and the note--was republished under the name "Legends & Lore."

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Appropriately, there is a lot of confusion and un-clarity when it comes to the status of the Cthulhu and others part of that mythos...but with a little digging, I am sure you will get closer to the truth (and then you will be beyond hope)

 

[nikolai]

Lovecraft and Public Domain

Lovecraft is already public domain in countries with life + 50 years copyright (Canada, Austrialia). Good for them! You can publish anything you want in these countries and, in practice, people anywhere can buy your stuff and have it sent to them through Amazon (and other internet sites). There's a proviso with some of the stories though: some of Lovecraft's stuff was edited and the edited version is re-copyrighted, so the original stories can be in the public domain, but the edited versions most easily available in many books can still be in copyright.

Lots of stuff "created" by Lovecraft wasn't. He borrowed heavily from early stuff written by other people, which is public domain (or at least is public domain now, it likely wasn't then - oh, the irony...). You can freely use stuff from these sources (e.g. Hastur, the Yellow Sign). You just have to know the sources Lovecraft drew from well enough (e.g. Bierce, Chambers, etc.).

Lovecraft also becomes public domain soon (1st of January 2007) in countries with life + 70 years copyright. This means the EU. You can do what you want with Lovecraft's original stories in two years time. So far as the US goes. It's very complicated. Lovecraft's work published before January 1st, 1923 is certainly public domain in the US. This benefits other countries too. For instance: a work isn't under copyright in the UK if it isn't copyrighted in its nation of origin. A similar law very probably applies where you are.

It's certainly ambiguous as to whether the rest of Lovecraft's work is copyrighted in the US (and by extention in some other countries). Anything published from 1924 through 1977 could be under copyright, but the copyright had to be renewed. Arkham House "claim" to own this copyright, but others think it's public domain. The best summary is at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft#Copyrights

In the short version, there are two possible problems. (1) If the copyright was not renewed, Lovecraft is public domain and therefore Arkham can't own it. There are apparently reasons for supposing that the copyright wasn't renewed. (2) To own the copyright (if the work is in copyright) Arkham has to have the rights transfered to it from someone who owned the copyright. There are questions as to who owned the copyright (more than one person claimed to at the same time), so the current ownership may be dubious. So the 1924 to 1977 stuff could be in copyright, but also could not be. Only a good lawyer and a lot of money will find out for sure.

The best sites for more detail are here:

http://www.epberglund.com/RGttCM/nightscapes/NS15/ns15nf01.htm
http://phantasmal.sourceforge.net/Innsmouth/LovecraftCopyright.html

There's the creepy possibility that certain companies (including those in our beloved RPG field) are behaving in morally dubious fashion over the Lovecraft rights in order to prevent competition.