the CTEA in 1998, todays political climate is such that similar efforts are [6] See Timothy B. become accessible to the public at large.
Did anyone else know Mickey Mouse was going into the public domain?# as Wikipedia editors and Reddit moderators, presenting a much more formidable the public.). On account of the CTEAs retroactive application It uses the same main characters and relies on and refers to the plot established in the original Rocky. However, January 1, 2024 won't be the day that Mickey Mouse becomes public domain. There wasnt anyone speaking out for the public interest.. On October 27, 1998, Mickey Mouses copyright was extended another 20 years, to 2023. Moreover, he contends that they only serve to boost corporate profits for an elongated period of time (the longer Mickey is copyrighted, the longer competition is minimized, allowing Disney to charge more for its films and merchandise). It is Marceline where Disney said he found the magic of his life. In fact, before she started Sylvia's Soul Plates in April, Walters was best known for . The catch is that not all formerly copyrighted characters will qualify for trademark protection. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/01/a-whole-years-worth-of-works-just-fell-into-the-public-domain/. the CTEA in 1998, todays political climate is such that similar efforts are Remember, the Courts rationale for extending trademark protection to a copyrighted character lies in the assumption that [a] character deemed an artistic creation deserving copyright protectionmay also serve to identify the creator. 19 The Disney company may own all the rights to the Pooh characters, but they are not the creator of Pooh, any more than they are the creator of Snow White. maximum of twenty years of copyright protection. While Mickey Mouses apparent ability to influence the law has been criticized, any major effort to rile up the public has been squelched by Disney. Leaving nothing to chance, Disney has also obtained 19 different trademark registrations for the words Mickey Mouse, including live action and animated television shows, 9 cartoon strips, 10 comic books, 11 theme parks, 12 and computer games. In 1976 just 8 years prior to Mickeys expiration Congress completely overhauled U.S. copyright law to conform with European standards. eternal copyright protection would be putting the proverbial cart before the This really is more the Steamboat Willie Mickey, than the modern Mickey. effect of this 20-year extension the longest blanket extension since the However, Disney still holds copyrights on other versions of Mickey Mouse. The CTEAs effect on the public domain was [5] Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186, 243 (2003) (Breyer, J., dissenting)
Mickey Mouse and the Expanding Public Domain - Plagiarism Today This was followed by an 1831 act, which extended the copyright period to a max of 42 years, and a 1909 act, which elongated that period again, to 56 years. Disney may file suit to prevent any competing Pooh movies or television shows on the basis of their trademarks and that Pooh has achieved secondary meaning, in other words, that a competing Pooh movie will be assumed to come from Disney by the general public. In accordance with the law, his copyright was set to expire in 1984. 52.8K Likes, 138 Comments. For his efforts, Forbes has dubbed him the worlds richest fictional billionaire, placing his estimated worth to Disney at $5.8 billion per year. In 2024, the earliest iteration of Disney's Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain. Copyright Officer: [5], Thankfully, it seems like the era of perpetual copyright This unofficial subreddit is dedicated to the stories, worlds, and magic of all Contact Form, Copyrights Last Too Long! Having learned from his distributors previous betrayal, Disney clung to Mickey with an iron grip. passing of the CTEA, new (or should I say old) works finally entered the L. Rev. The foundation of American copyright law and, become accessible to the public at large. The Clock Is Ticking As 2024 draws closer, it becomes less likely that Congress will pass another revision of our nation's copyright law to protect Mickey and other early 20th century creations. the public.). Will you be able to distribute your own copies of Fantasia, sell unlicensed Disney merchandise, and so on? perpetual.
Mickey Mouse will be public domain in 2024 and now 100th anniversary in After all, it isnt as if copyright has shelled him off from society: hes still very much in the public spotlight, and millions of people enjoy him on a daily basis. On November 18, 1928, Mickey Mouse made his official debut, in an animated short called Steamboat Willie. Within five years, he became Hollywoods inanimate poster child, raking in nearly $1 million a year ($18 million in 2015 dollars) in merchandise sales, soliciting Academy Award nominations, and inspiring children around the world. [4] For decades, Disney has avoided the famous mouse's copyright expiration. In fact, indefinite copyrights undermine Mickey Mouse Could Soon Be in the Public Domain, Mental Floss (Jan. 9, 2018), In the early months of 1927, the 26-year-old Disney, along with his chief animator Ub Iwerks, designed Oswald the Lucky Rabbit a rather saucy, anthropomorphic creature and Mintz inked the deal with Universal. While it is true that Mickey will soon be accessible to all, it is crucial to understand which version of Mickey Mouse will become publicly accessible and which ones will still be under lock and key in the Disney vault. It is only the rendition of Mickey Mouse that is in the film Steamboat Willie and also The Gallopin Gaucho, released in the same year that will be free from copyright protection. In the age of the Internet, where vast swaths of creative material are freely available, the central question raised by Mickey Mouses copyright ordeal is especially pertinent: Which is more important, a robust public domain, or the well-being of private interests? ). A derivative work is statutorily defined as a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. For example, Rocky II is a derivative work of the movie Rocky. As recently as 2012, there was Snow White and the Huntsman made by Universal Studios. Walt Disney World Resorts via Getty Images), The Democratic Party Should Set Higher Standards | Opinion, The Democratic Party is Becoming Less Inclusive | Opinion. [8] Due to this new power dynamic, we can areas that may be in dispute or controversial. Finally, a mouse was suggested, debated and put on the drawing boards as the best bet. But despite mounting support from the public to overturn the extension act, the court upheld it. For more than 90 years, the rodent has been part of the magic that characterizes the theme park of Disneyland as well as hundreds of Disney-branded movies, series, cartoons, and merchandise. prominent tech giants like Google are aligned with grassroots communities, such While there is a promotional poster for Steamboat Willie that colorizes the character, Mickey is monochrome in the original production. Images of Mickey Mouse as we now know him will not enter the public domain because those images are protected under both copyright and trademark laws. in or later than 1999 received a two-decade extension. This led to speculation that Mickey Mouse will enter the public domainhowever, it is only the iteration of Mickey Mouse known as "Steamboat Willie" that will no longer be protected. to the CTEA, so the lobbying power of media conglomerates was enough to win the He has spawned social clubs, theme parks, and every piece of merchandise imaginable. Few characters are so famous and so closely associated with their creators that this theory, if upheld by the Courts, would grant trademark protection to perhaps a handful of copyrighted properties. (The first major appearance of Mickey with white eyes and black, expressive pupils would be in Fantasia, released in 1940. That means Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain in 2023. day. However, with Steamboat Willie will entering the public domain, Disney will no longer be able to prevent other artists or companies from using the likeness of the character as he appeared in that short as the images in the short film will enter the public domain and be free for other people to use. The purpose of this blog is to provide information and candidate, 2021 at NYU School of Law. Ultimately, none of this may matter: Even if Mickeys copyright does expire in 2023, Disney has no less than 19 trademarks on the words Mickey Mouse (ranging from television shows and cartoon strips to theme parks and videogames) that could shield him from public use. Dissenting in Eldred In short, there are some things that the public will be allowed to do as it relates to Mickey Mouse and some that will remain off limits. top of the 1976 provision, derives from the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Shakespeare and Charles Dickens and Beethoven are long dead, but Macbeth and. I think that assumption is not pre-ordained success. these words are accompanied by a knowing grimace a morbid joke one makes when In other words, Disney has ingrained Mickey Mouse so deeply in its corporate identity that the character is essentially afforded legal protection for eternity, so long as Disney protects him (trademarks last indefinitely, so long as they are renewed). Also note the date the registration was filed: April 11, 2004. 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33314-1013 In the process, Disney learned a valuable, All he could say, over and over, was that hed never work for anyone again as long as he lived, later, Several months later, Disney and Ub Iwerks, whod stayed loyal to him as an animator, hit the drawing board. (2) the lack of a compelling argument in favor of copyright expansion that All of these arguments are either demonstrably false or, at best, without foundation in empirical data, copyright scholar Dennis Karjala tells us over the phone. As noted in a previous blog post, at the latest hearings before Congress on revisions to the Copyright Act, not one Representative and not one witness invited to testify put forth the proposition that copyright terms should be extended yet again. 3 The expiration of the copyrights in these films will mean that anyone can make copies of them. So, the first trademark versus public domain character dust-up will involve Pooh, not Mickey, and will present a very interesting test case. 2 So, it seems that the outer limit of constitutional copyright protection has been reached and there are no pending proposals from within Congress or in the entertainment industries to further extend copyright terms. 13 Disney also has trademark registrations for Mickeys visual appearance for animated and live action motion picture films. The first animated short featuring Mickey Mouse, "Steamboat Willie," released in 1928, will enter the public domain in 2024. Disney will then no longer be able to prevent other artists, studios or companies from using Mickey as they see fit under U.S. copyright law. "Mickey Mouse as we know him, in color with gloves and shoes, will not enter the public domain," lawyer Marc Jonas Block told Newsweek. For example, the Pooh of the books wears no clothing, but in all Disney versions he wears a red, short-sleeved turtleneck shirt.
Steamboat Willie - Wikipedia [3] Peter S. Menell et al., Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age: 2018, Volume Many who are interested in copyright issues have heard the phrase, "Mickey Mouse will never enter the public domain." Often, these words are accompanied by a knowing grimace a morbid joke one makes when attempting to grapple with an unpleasant fact of the world, leaving no remedy but coping mechanisms. In January 1998, all works that were published in or before 1922 entered ", Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Quietly, Disney took to Washington and began lobbying Congress for new copyright legislation. When Disneys own contract with Mintz expired, he found himself stripped of not only his creation, but of his staff of animators. Now here is the trademark registration for the visual aspects of Mickey as used in animated and live action motion pictures:. This is by no means certain, as the application of trademark principles may prevent this. v. Ashcroft, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer forecasted detrimental The first of these laws, the Copyright Act of 1790, stipulated that creative works were entitled to up to 28 years of protection (14 years, plus an additional renewal period of 14 years, supposing the original hadnt died). Perpetuating exclusionary rights James Bond is certainly world famous as a character, but his movies have been produced at three different Hollywood studios. For example, a member of the public would be able to write her own sequel to the original Rocky without infringing upon a copyright but would not be able to reference or build upon any of the plots or character developments that first appear in Rocky II. On January 1, 2024, we'll see the expiration of the copyright for Steamboat Willie and with it Disney's claim to the film's star, Mickey Mouse. reserved a copyright lifetime of seventy-five years. We dont wish to talk about it.. extension may be at an end. The legislation delayed the entry into the public domain of the earliest Mickey Mouse movies, leading detractors to the nickname "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act". Hed be his own boss.. Jesse Kirkland is a J.D. (Say the Pirates): They Dont; And Why Its Not Changing Anytime Soon, 1926 A.A. Milne Publishes Winnie-the-Pooh. the Intellectual Property Clause: A Study in Historical Perspective 12526 Mickey is a different story. Of course, cartoon and comic book characters have an advantage in the secondary meaning analysis, because they have a stylized appearance that does not change significantly over time. All of the plot and characters from the first movie would be unprotected, unlike any plot or character that had first appeared in one of the sequels. With respect to derivative works, however, the consideration becomes a bit trickier. importantly, its practical effect is not to promote, but to inhibit, the By the mid-1990s, Disney again began to feel the impending doom. In fact, indefinite copyrights undermine Answer (1 of 21): Don't count on it. (It would not be until The Opry House, released in 1929, that these first appear. ) for longer and longer terms. By this time, Mickey was worth, Disneys efforts, and those of other multinational corporations with soon-expiring intellectual property, seem to have paid off. Disney has made Mickey Mouse so prominent in all of their corporate dealings, that he is effectively the pre-eminent symbol of the Walt Disney Company. Assuming current copyright laws remain unchanged in 2024, the public will then become free to both create new stories involving the original iteration of Mickey Mouse and change the character design to incorporate original elements.
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