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Warner Bros. Wins Key Legal Ruling Impacting All ‘Wizard of Oz’ Remakes (Exclusive)

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals hands down a potentially big decision on some iconic characters thought by many to be outside copyright protection.

11:40 AM 7/6/2011 by Eriq Gardner

In 1900, L. Frank Baum wrote the famous children’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It’s easy to assume that since the book was published more than 110 years ago, the characters of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the rest are safely in the public domain.

Or so Hollywood hopes. Many movie studios are in the midst of re-adapting the classic. But the truth about what’s in the public domain and what’s not may be a little murky, thanks to a decision on Tuesday by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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