Quote:So in 2028 Conan enters the public domain, and in 2050 LotR does. I wonder if at that point anyone could make a Conan or LotR game.
The real question is by that point would anyone care to play it?
Rights are a very complicated thing. The original novel my go public domain in 2028, but ONLY that novel, which means the wonderful world of the Hyborian Age would still technically be covered under the later copyrights. Remember there's still a 2011 movie to deal with(which is HEAVILY under-rated, really fantastic Jason Momoa flick). So unless the entire concept of a barbarian named Conan goes PD it'll be tough to sort out the rights.
Same thing goes for LOTR - but in a worse way because the films were a much bigger hit and will definitely still be under a separate copyright. It'll be hard to separate out what came from the film and what came from the books.
Of course that brings us back around to the original question: would anyone care to play it? In the case of Conan we're talking about a nearly 100 year old IP at that point. Whether you could legally make whatever game you wanted is a less important question than "would having the conan name slapped on it be a big enough draw?"
There are currently 2 separate Conan MMOs open for buisness right now. Have you heard of either of them? Are either of them any good? Do the words "There's a Conan the Barbarian MMO!" make you immediately want to rush out and buy them? And would that change seven years from now?
While the works of Robert E. Howard have certainly enjoyed a more enduring and widespread popularity than his compatriate, H.P. Lovecraft, Lovecraft's work has been in the public domain for decades - and its still not a huge crowd please(it fucking should because it is AWESOME).
So that's really what it comes down to: are these aging IPs really going to still be popular enough to rake in the fans, instead of some hot new IP?