Is Buck Rogers in the Public Domain?

Don Murphy (Transformers, Natural Born Killers, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) wants to make a film about the fictional space explorer Buck Rogers. He believes that the character entered the public domain in the United States in 1956. He has gotten preliminary interest from Warner Bros. read more

Don Murphy (Transformers, Natural Born Killers, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) wants to make a film about the fictional space explorer Buck Rogers. He believes that the character entered the public domain in the United States in 1956. read more

The suit alleges that the trust threatened in writing that it was contemplating "legal action" because the "Dille Family Trust has not given permission or license for the use of 'Buck Rogers' or any of the elements of the 'Buck Rogers' Universe." The suit maintains that the character entered the public domain in 1956 and worldwide in 2010. read more

A federal judge has declined to rule, for now, on the question of whether or not Buck Rogers is in the public domain. Federal District Judge Joy Flowers Conti granted a defense motion to dismiss by the Dille Family Trust, the owner of the rights to Philip Francis Nowlan’s novel Armageddon 2419 A.D., in which the character originated. read more