A Brief Article About Public Domain

Mickey is endangered. If the Mouse falls into the public’s hands, then Disney will lose an important asset, that which they did not use.

The monster that threatens to gobble the big, bad mouse is Public Domain. You see, works which were copyrighted or trademarked after 1976 are protected for the rest of the author’s life + 70 years after his/her death. Mickey Mouse was trademarked fifty years before the 1976 law went into effect, in which the law that was in effect before it got revised stated that all works in whatever medium are protected for just seventy-five years. What will happen is every hacker’s dream: they can do whatever they wish with the character of Mickey Mouse AND NOT GET PENALIZED OR PROSECUTED. This is what Disney is worried about.

Internet piracy is at an all-time high these days. You have record numbers of cases involving corporate properties being manipulated, such as but not limited to movies, video games, music, and more (that’s where the ‘not limited to’ comes in). Piracy accounts for $1.9 billion in lost revenue for the collective industries. Yet, with the Mouse, they can do unimaginable things with it--and even make a little cash on the side doing it--if Disney unwillingly relinquishes ownership of Walt Disney‘s creation.

2003 would mark the 75th anniversary of the Mouse’s existence (not the corporate entity, which is referred to as the “Mouse House”). It’ll also be the last year that the Mouse belongs, exclusively, to Disney if the company does not (or cannot) find a legal loophole that will let them bypass the regulations in place before the copyright law was revised in ‘76.

(Thanks to www.toonzone.net for additional information)

Questions/comments? E-mail me at mrallennys@aol.com

Go To Page: 1