Is there a statute of limitations on spoilers?

**Warning, this post does NOT contain any spoilers**

Spoilers, in layman's terms, are the revealed conclusions to works of art, such as books or movies.  It's hard to read a review that doesn't say, "Warning, this review contains spoilers."  And in today's social media climate, it's hard not to tweet or post about the shocking ending to Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, or Breaking Bad with everyone.

But do spoilers have a statute of limitations?  I mean, if one hasn't by now read the conclusion to A Christmas Carol or seen all six Star Wars movies, are they to blame?  Should they be subject to every criticism of the book or movie?  Should they sit through every rant about the characters just because the movie or book came out "so long ago!"

I think not.

New fans are coming to our works all the time.  New fans that get to experience the truth behind Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker or what happens to Ned Stark in Game of Thrones should be free to do so in their own time.

They should be free to experience the anticipation we all felt when we watched these movies or read those books.  I didn't read Lord of the Rings until the Peter Jackson movies came out--it was when Fellowship first came to video that I watched it and then had to read the books.  I'm glad the movies weren't exactly like the books, but I still got to read the rest of it before Towers and Return came to the theaters.

At work, some of my co-workers are watching Breaking Bad for the first time.  I am currently in season five--waiting patiently for the rest to come out on Netflix.  It's fun to listen to them talk about the episodes that I watched a month ago.

And I'm careful not to read anything on how it actually ends.