Released in July 2026, The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron and Zendaya, among others, is already being hailed as one of the biggest cinematic events of the year.

Shot entirely on 70mm IMAX cameras, with an estimated budget of US$250 million, this box-office phenomenon offers a valuable case study on a theme that runs through the entire creative industry: the line between what belongs to everyone and what belongs to someone, in matters of Intellectual Property.

After all, Homer’s Odyssey is estimated to have been written between 850 and 750 BC, nearly 2,800 years ago. Which raises the question: how can a work so old give rise, at the same time, to a blockbuster shielded by multimillion-dollar contracts and exclusive rights? The answer lies in core concepts of Copyright Law and IP as a whole, which we summarize below.

Homer is in the public domain

The epic poem attributed to Homer is, for all legal purposes, in the public domain everywhere in the world. This means the story of Odysseus, his return to Ithaca, the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, Circe and Calypso can be freely adapted, rewritten, staged or reinterpreted by anyone, without the need for authorization and without paying royalties to any heirs or rights holders, simply because none exist.

That is why, throughout history, dozens of films, series, operas, comics and novels have freely drawn on the same raw material. The plot, the characters’ names, the mythological episodes and the narrative structure of the original work belong to no one, not to Nolan, not to Universal Pictures.

This is an important reminder in any Copyright analysis: legal protection covers the form of expression of an idea, not the idea itself, the generic plot, or the underlying historical/mythological facts (what legal doctrine calls the idea/expression dichotomy). A public-domain myth remains free material forever.

So, what is protected in the new version?

Given that the underlying story is free to use, the rights held by Nolan and Universal Pictures that prevent third parties from copying the film lie in the original elements added to the pre-existing work, the so-called derivative work.

Copyright protects elements such as:

•       The audiovisual work per se;
•       The specific screenplay written for the film, with its own dialogue, scene structure and dramaturgical choices;
•       The choices of direction, cinematography and editing;
•       The production design, costumes and set design;
•       The original score composed for the work;
•       The actors’ performances, protected by neighboring (related) rights, not by copyright per se, but by a protection regime of its own in most jurisdictions, including Brazil’s.

In other words: any competitor is free to make their own Odyssey. What no one can do is copy this Odyssey, its screenplay, its specific cinematography, its score, its scenes as conceived by this particular creative team.

Trademarks: why “The Odyssey” is not (and cannot be) monopolized as a title

On the trademark side, it is important to understand that “Odyssey” is a mythological name in the public domain and in everyday linguistic use (including as a common noun, synonymous with “a long and difficult journey”). For that reason, registering a trademark over the isolated title of the work tends to run into distinctiveness obstacles before industrial property authorities.

This does not mean, however, that no protection is possible. Studios such as Universal Pictures typically seek to register trademarks for:

•       Logos, visual identity and exclusive graphic elements created for the film’s campaign and merchandising;
•       Names of derivative products (toys, games, apparel, commercialized soundtracks) associated with the work;
•       Distinctive combinations that add unique elements to the generic term (for example, the film’s name paired with a specific typography or visual composition).

In short, not every famous work automatically generates a protectable trademark over its title. Distinctiveness of the sign must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The risk of competing adaptations and the “race to the public domain”

It is not uncommon for public domain works to inspire competing productions released around the same time, something already seen, for example, with multiple simultaneous adaptations of fairy tales or literary classics. When this happens, IP disputes do not revolve around the story itself (free for all), but rather around the following points:

•       Substantial similarity between screenplays, scene structures or specific dialogue;
•       Use of visual or audio elements that could be confused with the original work, creating a risk of improper association (which is closer to unfair competition than to copyright infringement itself);
•       Trade secrecy and leaks of the script/production before release, an increasingly relevant issue in major productions, including through strict confidentiality clauses for cast and crew.

In light of the above, we conclude that the case of The Odyssey shows, in an almost poetic way, that the line between what is free and what is protected in matters of Intellectual Property is rarely obvious, and recognizing it requires technical, and above all, preventive analysis.

If your company creates content, develops brands, or relies on intangible assets to compete in the market, talk to our team: we help turn your intellectual property into real competitive advantage, from script to registration, from idea to protection.