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Disney's earliest Mickey and Minnie Mouse enter public domain as US copyright expires
BBC ^ | 31st December 2023 | Noor Nanji

Posted on 01/01/2024 12:19:51 AM PST by nickcarraway

It was the animation that launched the House of Mouse.

Steamboat Willie, a 1928 short film featuring early non-speaking versions of Mickey and Minnie, is widely seen as the moment that transformed Disney's fortunes and made cinema history.

Their images are now available to the public in the US, after Disney's copyright expired.

It means creatives like cartoonists can now rework and use the earliest versions of Mickey and Minnie.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: copyright; disney; mickeymouse
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To: nickcarraway

I can see it now the media will have Mickey and Minnie going tranny Mickey with tits................


21 posted on 01/01/2024 8:07:04 AM PST by Vaduz
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To: ganeemead

I’ve never worn mouse ears.


22 posted on 01/01/2024 8:24:50 AM PST by webheart
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To: nickcarraway

Disney has what they really want - Donald Duke without Pants, and “penis or virgina” of the Day, where the front part goes. That old Micky and Minnie do not convey any sexual deviancy.


23 posted on 01/01/2024 8:52:55 AM PST by Jumper
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To: nickcarraway

24 posted on 01/01/2024 10:10:00 AM PST by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: Chode

😂😂. DMM FDR.


25 posted on 01/01/2024 10:59:17 AM PST by cowboyusa (YESHUA IS KING OF AMERICA! DEATH TO MARXISM AND LEFTISM! AMERICA, COWBOY UP!)
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To: cowboyusa

yup...


26 posted on 01/01/2024 11:14:31 AM PST by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: Right_Wing_Madman

Nope. FAIR USE PARODY.


27 posted on 01/01/2024 12:06:57 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: nickcarraway; All

This might be one law that works as intended. How would you like to spill your guts running a book and somebody else publishes it and takes all the money?


28 posted on 01/01/2024 12:07:21 PM PST by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing Obamacare is worse than Obamacare)
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To: MeanWestTexan
Steamboat Willy

I'd like to see Steampunk Willy ...

29 posted on 01/01/2024 12:15:39 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: nickcarraway
The Public Domain Day page at Duke.edu has a lot of information about works that are now in the Public Domain. There is also a great article about what you can and cannot do with Mickey now that his first 2 films are in the Public Domain. There are issues to consider if using it, and Disney is hyper litigious even though they borrow very heavily from the Public Domain for their works.
30 posted on 01/01/2024 1:54:46 PM PST by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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To: Mr. K
This might be one law that works as intended. How would you like to spill your guts running a book and somebody else publishes it and takes all the money?

Yes, and no. The biggest problem I have is that it has been extended so many times and is now so long that it actually does a severe disservice to the public, and mainly only benefits corporations, that are essentially immortal.The original copyright term was 14 years, for which you could apply for one extension giving a total of 28 years of protections, which actually longer than almost any work actually needs. It is interesting to look at historical data and see what small percentage of copyrighted works were ever extended to the full 28 year term.I would strongly favor a return to the 28-year maximum. The entirety of the Beatles catalog should be in the public domain my now.

31 posted on 01/01/2024 2:08:40 PM PST by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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To: zeugma

The problem with long copyright periods is that works long out of print can be permanently lost if there’s no available copy once copyright expires.

14-28 years should be sufficient. 40 if and only if an electronic copy is given to the copyright office, to be archived until copyright expires, and then downloadable afterwards.


32 posted on 01/01/2024 2:16:38 PM PST by SauronOfMordor (Either you will rule. Or you will be ruled. There is no other choice.)
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To: nickcarraway

The Mouse is dead. Long live the Mouse!


33 posted on 01/01/2024 4:13:31 PM PST by nicollo ("This is FR!")
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To: NorthMountain

Have you seen the Mickey Rat comics?


34 posted on 01/01/2024 4:30:03 PM PST by 17th Miss Regt ( )
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To: SauronOfMordor
The problem with long copyright periods is that works long out of print can be permanently lost if there’s no available copy once copyright expires.

Absolutely. This is one reason Project Gutenberg is such a Godsend. They are scanning in and making ebooks available for free download, and have been doing so for ages.

35 posted on 01/01/2024 5:13:14 PM PST by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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To: 17th Miss Regt

Mickey Rat?

Can’t say that I’ve seen it ...


36 posted on 01/01/2024 6:17:10 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: SauronOfMordor
40 if and only if an electronic copy is given to the copyright office, to be archived until copyright expires, and then downloadable afterwards.

I actually like the idea of the copyright office requiring that a digital copy be provided (Without encumbering DRM). The "EPUB" format is a fully documented specification that can be used with almost any document type, and is not "owned" by any particular company.

For any document type that cannot be documented via EPUB,(Perhaps an example would be musical scores) I'd recommend a DRM document type be developed and documented via the standard internet RFC methods that can handle it. That way you do not have to worry so much about bitrot associated with abandoned proprietary document formats.

37 posted on 01/02/2024 11:53:40 AM PST by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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