is the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck Enters Public Domain in 2022
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Hey, I'm trying pick through the nuances of this argument and would like to get a fact check for the specifics. Here's what I'm arguing:
the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, the tarot deck of all tarot decks, is entering the public domain on January 1, 2022. Sort of.
Tarot has become more popular during the pandemic, with readers using the cards as a tool to gain insight into time and self. But its the Rider tarot deck’s artwork that catches non-practitioners as well. Pamela Colman Smith, an artist active in the late 1800s and early 1900s was influenced by an American approach to Japanese composition that’s identifiable by simple lines, a balance of light and dark, and symmetry of color. While she was friends with authors like Bram Stoker, she is one of those artists whose name is largely forgotten.
What’s not entering the public domain, are the tarot cards themselves. The intellectual property of the cards belongs to US Games, which owns exclusive rights to the Rider-Waite mark. The images as interpreted on the cards including the back of the cards and interpretations of colorization are not entering the public domain any time soon, making it difficult for creatives to make derivatives of the original artist’s work. This, in turn, prevents countless works from ever being created.
the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, the tarot deck of all tarot decks, is entering the public domain on January 1, 2022. Sort of.
Tarot has become more popular during the pandemic, with readers using the cards as a tool to gain insight into time and self. But its the Rider tarot deck’s artwork that catches non-practitioners as well. Pamela Colman Smith, an artist active in the late 1800s and early 1900s was influenced by an American approach to Japanese composition that’s identifiable by simple lines, a balance of light and dark, and symmetry of color. While she was friends with authors like Bram Stoker, she is one of those artists whose name is largely forgotten.
What’s not entering the public domain, are the tarot cards themselves. The intellectual property of the cards belongs to US Games, which owns exclusive rights to the Rider-Waite mark. The images as interpreted on the cards including the back of the cards and interpretations of colorization are not entering the public domain any time soon, making it difficult for creatives to make derivatives of the original artist’s work. This, in turn, prevents countless works from ever being created.
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