RE: [microsound] bugs life

[ndk <ndkent@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> > 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...

Though I can't properly explain it myself these explanations seem to
just add confusion with lines like

>The first Mickey Mouse cartoon was set to enter the public domain in
2003, and other Disney characters soon after.

With "cartoon" being interchanged with "characters".

Correct me if I'm wrong but as the characters are surely trademarked
images, the actual implication of the copyright expiring would be
certain cartoons would be freely available for distribution without
royalties but the trademark would still hold preventing any further
creative or exploitive use of the characters beyond the royalty free use
of the film's content.

What this info does highlight is a need for even more standardized and
universal application of copyright laws making them clear and consistant
especially when it comes to corporate ownership as they are both most
likely to benefit from and most likely to abuse these laws, not the
individual author.

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