While the fact that Great Great Gatsby hits the public domain in thirty days does mean that by this time next month, you’ll be able to commercially publish your gay sequel without fear of reprisal, I think we’re overlooking the much broader takeaway:

Once original novel becomes public domain, there will no longer be any legal obstacle to having its various characters randomly show up in other works.

Much like Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, we’ll be able to have Jay Gatsby just wander into otherwise unrelated media without the risk of anybody getting on our backs about it.

Imagine.