Betty Boop, Excel Olympics, Penny-isms: Our 2026 Valentines
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What is the significance of Betty Boop entering the public domain?
This is Planet Money from NPR.
So, Jennifer, you got what I sent you, yes?
I did. It's the greatest mystery of the year so far.
This is Jennifer Jenkins, lawyer, professor. You may have heard her before. She's become sort of our unofficial trademark and copyright attorney here at Planet Money. And what I sent her is inside a large yellow envelope. You want me to guess?
You want me just to open?
No, just go ahead and open.
I love surprises, Kenny, so just, this is like, oh, this is loud.
Every year, we at Planet Money send valentines to the things we love. This year, to innovative reporting on ice, to the sport of competitive spreadsheeting, to perhaps the only beloved self-checkout system, and more. And typically, these are not physical Valentines. They're shout-outs in a Valentine's episode, such as this, chock full of big ideas and recommendations that we want to share with you all. But for my first Valentine to Jennifer Jenkins, we had, in fact, made a bespoke physical Valentine.
What? Oh, my God. Yay!
Do you want to describe it?
I need a moment. Oh, my God.
Okay, fine. I'll describe it. Red and black font that's a little tattoo motorcycle style. It says, Official Planet Money Valentine. And then a famous cartoon character that, for reasons, we are not going to get sued for using. And that character also happens to be one of Jennifer's favorites, Betty Boop. Happy Valentine's Day. Now, I know you love Betty Boop in particular. Oh, my God. So much. Do you want to explain why you have an affinity for Betty Boop?
Because she is one of the first comic book characters who was not defined by her relationship to a male character. So Minnie Mouse is Mickey Mouse's girl. Olive Oil is Popeye's girl. Betty Boop's just her own woman. She's fiercely independent. She's unapologetically sexy.
How does competitive spreadsheeting become a sport?
She dances around. She sings boop, boop, ba-doop.
I love that.
Betty Boop debuted in this cartoon in 1930, 95 years ago, which means as of January 1st, the copyright has expired. Anyone is allowed to use this version of Betty Boop for anything. This version, by the way, literally a dog-person hybrid? which is very weird and would not always be this way, but, like, yes, this version from 1930 is now in the public domain. And the reason I knew this is because every year, Jennifer Jenkins helps put out a list of all the famous books and songs and cartoons entering the public domain. And that, that is my first Valentine, to Jennifer's annual list of newly liberated intellectual property, the Public Domain Day list, where... you will learn that the copyright has now expired on the book, The Maltese Falcon, the song, Georgia On My Mind, the Academy Award winning film, All Quiet on the Western Front.
And yes, Betty Boop and her iconic catchphrase. Although Jennifer has noted something odd about what we've written on her Valentine.
It says, boop, boop, question mark.
Yes. We're going to get to that in a second. Because first, the reason I wanted to give a Valentine to this list is because it feels like all of these works are now flooding into the public domain in a somewhat novel way. And that is because for 20 years leading up to 2019, basically nothing entered the public domain. Legislators, with lobbying from Disney, kept extending the length of copyright.
Right. Literally, the public domain was frozen for two decades. And so all of the material that was set to go into the public domain from 1923, we had to wait 20 years for it to finally start entering the public domain in 2019. And that's why you're hearing about it so much, because now the gold posts are where they are. And every single year you can expect a trove of material to enter the public domain.
And I mean, and you can find out about it from my Valentine, the public, the public domain day list from Jennifer Jenkins.
I can't tell you how tickled I am. I'm trying to find the right word. That's what my grandmother said. I've like just tickled about this Valentine. Oh my God. So are you going to, you haven't explained the question mark yet?
Ah, yes. The boop, boop, a question mark.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the significance of Betty Boop entering the public domain?
0:01–2:04
2
How does competitive spreadsheeting become a sport?
2:04–5:51
3
What makes Uniqlo's self-checkout system unique?
5:51–8:51
4
Why do people have an emotional connection to the penny?
8:51–12:03
5
How can listeners participate in public domain celebrations?
12:03–14:11
6
What are the implications of the Public Domain Day list?
14:11–17:19
7
How does 404 Media approach investigative journalism?
17:19–19:42
8
What are the highlights of the Planet Money book tour?
19:42–31:31