The people who participated in comicsgate can go suck it. Please don't pander to them.

This (and similar cases like Micky Mouse) raises a lot of legal questions that have yet to be answered. It's not going to be as simple as some people think.

I also wanted to say that I think nerd culture has been dying in the USA and has become very corporate. This would free these properties from those restraints and perhaps help nerd culture flourish once again.

Nerd culture is bigger than it ever has been.

I do think the public domain has been twisted in a way never intended by corporations owning IP instead of individual creators but I don't think it really has anything to do with what you're thinking here.

>Nerd culture is dying

With all due respect, nerd culture is bigger than it has ever been. Characters such as Peacemaker, Scarlet Witch, Deadpool etc. from the big 2 that were obscure and practically no one new them have reached mainstream levels of fame, comic book adaptations are exploring concepts such as the Multiverse that we never thought we'd see on film, lesser known indie comics like The Boys and Invincible have adaptations with massive fan followings and critical acclaim. It has never been as ''hip'' and ''cool'' as it is today to be a massive nerd

And on the subject of pandering to the fans, what does that even mean? Ever since Heroes In Crisis, I don't think I've seen any work from DC that is an active middle finger to the fans*

*Unless by ''fans'' you mean Comicsgate, in which case screw them. I don't think we should tolerate their brand of bigotry in our fandom, or in any fandom

Anyways if Superman was actually in the public domain, then I wonder what parts of the character could be used (I assume Lois, the Daily Star, Ultra-Humanite, Metropolis, I don't know what else)

I'd have loved to see Alan Moore use him in a League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen story, but that ship has probably sailed. Maybe Project Superpowers could do something cool with him in a new setting. And probably he'd appear in Savage Dragon as well. Idk the possibilities are endless, but we can't know for sure without knowing which elements of the character would also enter the public domain

I live in a fairly rural state with only a handful of larger cities, and we still have floods of people coming in for comic cons and other nerdy events that happen each year. We also have a few hobby shops in my area and others elsewhere in the state that sell comics, figures, card/board games and accessories, etc. Some have tables to let people use for whatever gaming they want, and they host daily events in the evenings so that fans of many, many specific branches of nerdom get to gather and geek out with their fellow nerds. We have physical nerd communities, for sure, not just online ones.

If you’ve been unable to find that type of community in your area, I’m sorry for you, but to say that nerd culture is dying is generalizing.

I believe nerd culture has become so big and so main stream that the very definition of the word “nerd” almost doesn’t apply anymore. You could almost say that most people (or let’s say well over 50% of the people under the age that would qualify them as senior citizens) in the western world would consider themselves a nerd of some kind, or if they wouldn’t use the word “nerd” they’d at least say that they’re an avid fan of something would once be labeled as “nerdy”. And that’s where I agree about the whole corporate-control-over-nerd-culture thing. Personally, being someone who was a nerd before it was hip, I never thought I’d miss the days where I didn’t have to share my love of science fiction with a bunch of people who seem devoted to it as well, simply because it is hip. But I suppose that’s a personal issue that I’ll have to deal with in my own time.

Things are a bit more complicated than that the character will simply enter public domain. First off, it'd be like the Superman (characterization, power set, etc.) in Action Comics #1 that is in public domain. Later added elements (additional powers, characters (ex. Zod, Kon-El, Maggie Sawyer, Doomsday, Ron Troupe, Supergirl), and stuff like the Fortress of Solitude) would still fall under copyright.

When someone is using the public domain version of Lois, they'd have to line her up with her Action Comics #1 characterization. If they write her like the Donnerverse, Lois & Clark, Smallville, or DCEU Lois Lanes (possibly even stuff like the John Byrne revamped Lois Lane from the 1980s), they'd be in violation of copyright law.

The "S"-shield has been redesigned numerous times over the decades. If you use the wrong one (ex. the Kingdom Come shield, introduced/created in the 1990s), you'd be in violation of copyright law.

So, no, DC would have nothing to fear. As anyone else using Superman would be unable to use any of the stuff from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and so on (which would include the majority of his rogues gallery). If someone writes a story, where Superman goes up against Doomsday (introduced in the 1990s), they'd be in violation of copyright law (and DC could just sue this person).