<a href="https://www.lw.com/thoughtleadership/using-public-domain-content-in-new-media" rel="nofollow">https://www.lw.com/thoughtleadership/using-public-domain-con...</a> mentions an interesting and potentially applicable precedent:<p>> Nonetheless, the U.S. Supreme Court’s
ruling in Dastar Corporation v. Twentieth
Century Fox Film Corporation24 greatly
restricted the trademark claim of “reverse
passing off”—when a person represents someone else’s work as his or her own—regarding
works in the public domain, although a claim
of false advertising may still be viable. Dastar
took a set of video programs in the public
domain, based on General Dwight D.
Eisenhower’s book chronicling his European
campaign in World War II, and edited them
slightly, including replacing the original credits and removing references to Eisenhower’s
still-copyrighted book. The owners of the
film rights to the book and the expired copyright on the original video programs sued
Dastar for, among other things, reverse passing off by presenting the video programs as
a Dastar production.25
The Supreme Court held that Dastar’s
actions did not constitute reverse passing off
under federal trademark law because the
video programs were in the public domain
and therefore could be freely exploited by
anyone. To hold otherwise would be to “create[] a species of perpetual patent and copyright, which Congress may not do.”26 The
Court did, however, leave open the possibility that Dastar might be liable under other
provisions of federal trademark law that prohibit false advertising, such as misrepresenting the nature or qualities of the advertised
work.27 In light of the Dastar holding and the
continued viability of some trademark claims,
those seeking to use a public domain work
should consider the prospect of liability for
trademark infringement or related state unfair
competition claims.<p>(IANAL but I love this kind of stuff.)