RE: [microsound] bugs life

["David Goth [XaOs]" <xaos@xxxxxxxxx>]

> The copyright on all the old disney characters where coming 
> up so that they 
> would become public domain.  I'm not sure how many years it takes but 
> eventually a copyright will expire.  Apparently the laws were 
> changed for 
> disney so that they could renew the copyright.

And they didn't do it for just themselves. 

The 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) extended
copyright for 70 years after the death of the author. The first Mickey
Mouse cartoon was set to enter the public domain in 2003, and other
Disney characters soon after. In essense, nothing made since around 1920
or so (I forget the specific year, unfortunately) will enter the public
domain. Also since congress keeps extending copyright, they are
effectively extending copyright perpetually.

The supreme court upheld the law against a challenge.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/eldredvreno/

Ironic, considering the amount of money Disney has made off other public
domain works...

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