The Perils of the Public Domain

So January's scheduled novella was finished. 

I had chosen a hero and villain pairing that I was certain was in the public domain and written a corker of a story around their parallel origins.

I had re-imagined the hero and the hero's supporting cast in a brand new way and it worked really, really well.

Then I ran into a problem. My assumption about the villain being public domain was entirely wrong. 

I found the copyright renewal record and it is indisputable.

Worse, the public domain status of my hero rests on a fairly small foundation. Technically, as far as I can determine with my best research, the character is public domain. The first comic issue where they appear is not locatable by any search I know how to do. But. The issues following that are renewed and that might be enough to allow the company that currently uses the character to mount an aggressive defence based on the volume and intent. 

Could I win in court? Probably.

Would it be a fight I can afford?

I would be willing to defend myself and be my own foolish client, so maybe.

The thing is, even if I was willing to do ALL that, the villain is still under copyright for another decade and a half. The story, as written, dovetails the hero and villain arcs in a particular way and there's no public domain villain that would work instead.

So.

This novella is officially shelved. It will debut on January 1, 2041. Assuming I live that long and that enough people start buying my books regularly so I can keep the lights on and hunger at bay.

Will I risk using the hero before then? Technically, there's a sliver of legality that says I can. If I find the right story, then absolutely. I am willing to roll the dice as long as I can reasonably say, with honesty, that I believe I'm on the right side of the public domain with any given story. But for the moment, I have no story to hang on this particular character.

If there’s a takeaway here, it’s this: working in the public domain means accepting delays, dead ends, and occasionally shelving work I'm proud of. That’s the cost of doing it right.

It's frustrating, but I’d rather delay a book than publish something I can’t stand behind.