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What will enter the public domain in 2024?

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Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#31

Post by hinkley »

kevinmchugh wrote: post #10
yk wrote: post #3

The mouse via Steamboat Willie is scheduled to enter public domain? Guess we can look forward to quite eventful three weeks before the end of the year, while Disney is frantically trying to prevent that outcome.

It's been obvious for a few years that Disney wasn't going to pursue extending copyright anymore. It would have been politically difficult at any point in the last few years as the Senate does so little.

The timelessness of those old cartoons has waned considerably. GenX was already getting reruns of Disney and Looney Tunes cartoons that were aimed at Boomers. As the boomers are aging out, a lot of the slices of both domestic life and leisure time in these cartoons are something alien. Women in the kitchen? Hunting rabbits? And with a shotgun? Really?

Itchy and Scratchy are Tom and Jerry ad absurdum. The Flintstones were somewhere between Tom and Jerry and The Honeymooners. Most of this stuff does not deserve a replay.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#32

Post by sircastor »

kevinmchugh wrote: post #10
yk wrote: post #3

The mouse via Steamboat Willie is scheduled to enter public domain? Guess we can look forward to quite eventful three weeks before the end of the year, while Disney is frantically trying to prevent that outcome.

It's been obvious for a few years that Disney wasn't going to pursue extending copyright anymore. It would have been politically difficult at any point in the last few years as the Senate does so little.

Not to mention that Disney has run afoul of both parties a handful of times over the last decade, so it's a challenge to find support on either side.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#33

Post by coldpie »

jerf wrote: post #21
sp0rk wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's my understanding that they still retain a lot of control over Mickey Mouse indefinitely because he is trademarked as the face of their company.

That's almost the most infuriating thing about their copyright grabs; it hardly even gets them anything of interest. They're not making any money on the actual Steamboat Willie movie. We're still a ways away from anything of even modest commercial interest from Disney entering the public domain, and even when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs does finally come into public domain, I can't imagine it meaningfully affects…

> Meanwhile, to keep this at-best modestly interesting historical film locked up

Well, it's not just the film, it's also everything in it, including (that design of) the characters themselves. When that enters the public domain, anyone can use (that design of) those characters for any purpose, including in their own works that have nothing to do with the Steamboat film. I can go make a platforming video game ala Cuphead using those characters and sell it. While I think that's a good thing for society, you can probably understand why Disney doesn't.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#34

Post by gostsamo »

SirMaster wrote: post #23
yk wrote: post #3

The mouse via Steamboat Willie is scheduled to enter public domain? Guess we can look forward to quite eventful three weeks before the end of the year, while Disney is frantically trying to prevent that outcome.

Disney spent the last decade or so growing their business (through large acquisitions) to where Mickey is now just small fraction of their worth. So they likely don't really care anymore. Plus it's only the old, old design of Mickey, not the current version they have been using for awhile that looks more normal to most people these days.

They trademarked everything they could about him, so it is still a valuable part of the portfolio.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#35

Post by zare_st »

tiffanyh wrote: post #19

Will software become “public domain” over time?

That's what abandonware was all about. If you don't support or sell the software any more, it becomes public domain.

But it was a idealistic view not accounting for the future. Today you can run virtualized anything anywhere. The software companies can claim 80s software still being usable because they can deploy it that way.

We considered that console game ROMs will become public domain because once the console lifecycle is over, no original proprietor earns a dime. It's all 2nd hand sales from there on. But, today you run these via their virtual console products and they still make money off them, so public domain is off limits.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#36

Post by hinkley »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #20
yk wrote: post #3

The mouse via Steamboat Willie is scheduled to enter public domain? Guess we can look forward to quite eventful three weeks before the end of the year, while Disney is frantically trying to prevent that outcome.

What would happen in practice if someone tried to use the public domain Mickey for something? I assume that regardless of the legal status, you'd still have a fun time with Disney lawyers proving in court that you had the right to use public domain Mickey. Is Mickey also a trademark (which never expires) and anything using public domain Mickey would be too similar to their trademark?

Yeah Mickey is a trademark. Now I could remake Steamboat Willy with characters that weren't trademarked. Previously I could not depict either without getting sued.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#37

Post by Closi »

hinkley wrote: post #22
TonyTrapp wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably realized by now there is not much value left in that old version of Mickey. It's the newer self of Mickey (different looks and character) that brings in the money, but even that is becoming less relevant these days, I think? That's why they have bought so much IP which appeals to more people than Mickey Mouse.

Someone pointed out to me that Winnie the Pooh brings in more money than Mickey, and his copyright is just about the same timeframe. Everyone assumes The Mouse is what Disney is shitting bricks over and it's just as likely it's the silly ol' bear instead.

Hmm I’m not sure - that might be true for movies but is it true for merch?

Think of all the Mickey ears that get sold at the parks. Either way there is a boatload of Mickey related revenue still…

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#38

Post by bluGill »

tiffanyh wrote: post #19

Will software become “public domain” over time?

Yes, but odds are you won't live long enough to see anything useful. Mel's blackjack program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Mel from the 1950s might escape before you die (depending on how old you are), but it strongly depends on the specific architecture of a computer and so isn't useful.

There is probably a lot of software from then that isn't copyright. Back then you had to register copyright or you didn't have it - often that wouldn't have been done. Then you had to re-register the copyright, which given the software wasn't in use anymore wouldn't have been done. Both of these factors do not apply to modern software (at least not in most countries)

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#39

Post by hinkley »

ginko wrote: post #15
dry_soup wrote: post #9

So the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, who died in 1973, will enter the public domain in New Zealand (and other countries) next year? Or do they not, as he presumably published his works in the UK? Or they enter the public domain in New Zealand et al. but not in other countries?

What would be the New Zealand connection of Tolkien (other than the peter jackson movies)?

It's just an English speaking country with a largish population and a more traditional copyright law.

Re: What will enter the public domain in 2024?

#40

Post by disneycember »

jader201 wrote: post #8
yk wrote: post #3

The mouse via Steamboat Willie is scheduled to enter public domain? Guess we can look forward to quite eventful three weeks before the end of the year, while Disney is frantically trying to prevent that outcome.

> It was close to entering the public domain in the U.S. several times: each time, copyright protection was extended. It could have entered the public domain in four different years: first in 1955, renewed to 1986, then to 2003 by the Copyright Act of 1976, and then to 2023 by the Copyright Term Extension Act (also known pejoratively as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act”) of 1998. It has been claimed that these extens…

So now we can begin to undo all the damage Disney has done by extending copyright beyond any reasonable timeframe, right?
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