There aren’t many video games in the public domain right now. Examples of games in the public domain include Endless Sky, OpenTTD, Minetest, Xonotic, and Super TuxKart.
Generally, older video games released before the concept of long-lasting copyright protection fall into the public domain due to copyright expiration.
For a video game to be in the public domain, its copyright has to expire or be given up.
Copyrights expire after a certain time, or if they aren’t renewed.
Sometimes creators choose to share their work with everyone, which also puts it in the public domain.
Do Video Games Go Into the Public Domain?
Most video games will eventually go into the public domain 95 or 120 years from publication.
The first non-arcade video games intended for commercial purposes will transition into the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2073 when copyright protection will expire for the early Atari 2600 games.
The fact that a game is freely available doesn’t automatically mean that it’s in the public domain.
Certain publishers do make their older titles available for free downloading but that doesn’t mean they’re in the public domain.
It’s quite uncommon to find games that are genuinely in the public domain.
The only ways through which a work can enter the public domain are as follows:
- The copyright has expired.
- The copyright holders didn’t renew the copyright.
- The copyright holders intentionally declare the work to be in the public domain.
How Long Before a Video Game Becomes Public Domain?
In the United States, creative works, including video games, are safeguarded by copyright for 70 years following the author’s passing.
For works created under employment or commission, the term is either 95 years from the initial publication or 120 years from the creation date, whichever period is shorter.
Games won’t enter the public domain within our lifetime.
Many of you who are reading this post will likely have passed away long before the copyrights of your favorite video games expire.
By the time the year 2100 arrives, the majority of games you enjoyed on your Xbox and PS1 will have largely entered the public domain.
Unfortunately, you won’t be around to witness this moment.
The copyright duration is sometimes humorously summed up as “Life plus N years,” where N corresponds to the years since the passing of Walt Disney.
This lighthearted description actually underscores the consistent trend of extending copyright protection to prevent certain creative works from entering the public domain.
Is Mario in the Public Domain?
Super Mario Bros. was released in 1985 and is currently under copyright protection. Nintendo maintains the copyright for the game, and consequently, for the character Mario as well, until the year 2080.
Future Outlook
In the future, more games might join the public domain as their copyright time runs out.
But rules about copyright are always changing, so it’s hard to predict exactly what will happen.