Larry Lessig runs down the cast of characters in Fox's forthcoming action flick The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. every one of them is a famous literary figure in the public domain.

• Allan Quatermain
• Captain Nemo
• Mina Harker
• The Invisible Man (this one's interestng as Wells' copyright situation is murky)
• Tom Sawyer
• Dorian Gray
• Dr Jekyll

at the center of Big Content's movie empire is a dramatic irony: every major studio owes its existence to a rich public domain to which they have contributed nothing. this source of material sustained Hollywood through Edison's vicious (but ultimately futile) patent war. it continues to benefit them today.

to hear them tell it, a strong public domain is a mortal threat to their existence. nothing could be further from the truth.