Klarinet Archive - Posting 000212.txt from 2007/06

From: "Kevin Fay" <kevin.fay.home@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: Copyright
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:17:28 -0400

Sean Osborn posted regarding the "Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act"

<<<As a further explination, all of this happened because Micky Mouse was
about to enter the public domain. It's nice to know that big powerful
companies like Disney can't affect our legislative process through coercion
or bribery.

.....right.>>>

Technically, certain movies were about to enter public domain. (You can't
copyright a character, although trademark registration is possible.) The
first Mickey Movie ("Plane Crazy, shortly followed by "Steamboat Willie")
was released in 1928. Once a depiction of the character would enter the
public domain, it would become very hard for Disney to control/profit from
Mickey's likeness on T-shirts, knock-off movies and the like. Obviously
they think there is still value there. It's questionable whether preserving
the valuable franchise promotes the creation of new cartoons and other
literary works - Walt is long dead, after all. He was very cognizant of his
legacy, though - it's entirely possible that he'd want the profit from the
character to support Disneyland as a long-term monument to the Mouse.

FWIW, I've had the opportunity to deal with Disney lawyers in a professional
capacity. They truly have no sense of humor. Do not Mess with the Mouse.

A good guide for American musicians and music teachers on the vagaries of
copyright law is the National Association for Music Education's "Guide for
Music Educators" - it's on the internet at
http://www.menc.org/information/copyright/copyr.html.

kjf

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