What happens when Windows copyright expires?

[WhitetailAni]

During New Years, my mom was talking to my uncle about the copyrights that had expired this year.

This made me think:
What happens when the copyrights on Windows expire?
I know Windows 10 likely won't be around in 2112, but if it is, then its copyright will have expired.

What will happen?
Same goes for the others - 95, 98 (FE/SE), 2000, XP, 7, 10, etc.?

Will nothing change or will Microsoft release an unlocked ISO?

[Scared Donut]

It won't. In order for it to expire Microsoft will have to dissolve and die so no one acquires the product and then we will need to wait another 70 years. (At least that's how I believe it works for products)

[pipnina]

18 hours ago, Scared Donut said:

It won't. In order for it to expire Microsoft will have to dissolve and die so no one acquires the product and then we will need to wait another 70 years. (At least that's how I believe it works for products)

I don't think so. I believe that applies to the trademark of Windows itself but not to specific products. Because of disney however, even DOS will remain a copyrighted work well past when almost all, or all the hardware it can run on has expired. Copyrighted songs from the 60s are still covered but will become public domain in the coming decades IIRC.

[kelvinhall05]

Maybe it'll finally be the year of the Linux desktop!

[Guest]

Copyright disintegrates when the rights holder is dead for a set time. 

A company can be a rights holder so in that case, the company has to cease to exist. 

 

That's why Micky mouse is still copy protected. 

[Drama Lama]

On 1/12/2021 at 12:21 AM, ragnarok0273 said:

Will nothing change or will Microsoft release an unlocked ISO?

probably not they just won't be able to sue you for giving ISOs away for free anyone could write software containing their code and microsoft could not sue them. End of copyright just means that the content can be published,  ( re ) used  by anyone, not just the copyright owner.

[minibois]

Windows' copyright won't expire.

Before it can expire, Disney will realize some of their property will expire and they will just keep extending copyright as a whole forever and ever.

[Falkentyne]

Yep, pretty much.  The copyright holder either has to have been dead for awhile, the company in possession of the copyright has to have been dissolved for awhile, without the copyright having been transferred to a new company (go look up what happened with Star Control II), or the copyright holder has to allow the held item into the public domain (e.g. The Ur-Quan Masters), which only covers that particular project, not the trademark or universe.