King Kong, Superman, and Batman will be in the public domain in 5 years. Will their images be ruined

The giant stuffed bear, its face a twisted smile, lumbers across the screen. Menacing music swells. Shadows mask unknown threats. Christopher Robin begs for his life. And is that a sledgehammer about to pulverize a minor character’s head?Thus unfolds the trailer for the 2023 movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a slasher-film riff on A.A. Milne’s beloved characters, brought to you by . . . the expiration of copyright and the arrival of the classic children’s novel into the American public...