Born as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey Mouse made his public debut as a rebellious deckhand in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie. Since then, Mickey Mouse has become synonymous with Disney. Disney has produced or licensed Mickey Mouse onto every product imaginable--from clothing to video games to diapers.
Copyright law provides protection against copying to authors of original creative works. After the duration of a copyright expires, a work passes into the public domain and the public can use it as it is for any legal endeavor they choose.
When Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928, this protection had a maximum duration of 56 years. Some quick addition may lead you to one glaring question--why is Mickey Mouse still protected under copyright law? How has Disney managed to keep such tight control over the image of its extremely popular character?
Copyright Protection in the Most Magical Kingdom
The answer to this question is simple: Disney didn't want him to be in the public domain. As the expiration of Mickey's copyright approached, Disney began efforts to change the duration of copyright. In 1976, after significant lobbying on the part of Disney and others, Congress extended copyright duration to the life of the author plus 50 years, with a duration of 75 years added for corporations.
But wait a moment you say, that would leave Mickey Mouse expiring at the end of 2003! Mickey Mouse was and still is extremely important to Disney as a company. So, in 1998, Disney began an extremely aggressive lobbying campaign to extend the duration of copyright. As a result, Congress passed the Sunny Bono Act, often called the Mickey Mouse Act, extending copyright for all authors and corporations by another twenty years. This means that the current expiration of Mickey's copyright is the end of 2023.
Will Mickey Mouse Stay Protected Forever?
Disney is a company that thrives on its intellectual property. Its entire business plan revolves around creating movies and merchandise out of its most popular characters. Chances are that as Mickey's copyright expiration approaches, we will see renewed efforts on Disney’s part to extend copyright duration.
What do forever growing copyright terms mean for the copyright system? Copyright law was created with the purpose of creating incentives for artists to create works which will eventually fall into the hands of the public. It certainly make sense to reward authors for their artistic contributions to society, and the copyright system provides content creators motivation to make new art while still having their work available to the public.
On the other hand, if the goal is to provide these works to the public, then never-ending copyright terms are clearly not the solution. The key to a successful copyright system is to balance the incentive to create with public access to those creations. A system where the public receives effectively no benefit because they never get access to the works the artists create simply doesn't work.
Disney has created countless beloved characters from dozens of classic movies. It seems more and more unlikely that these characters will ever reach the hands of the public. However, the actual Disney characters are not the biggest issue created by repeatedly extending copyright--constantly moving the goal posts on the public in this way undermines the copyright system itself. So how far will we extend copyright terms before we've removed all real value of the copyright system to the public?
How Do We Determine an Appropriate Copyright Duration?
There is a question as to what duration constitutes an appropriate reward for those who create artistic works for the public to enjoy. Many argue that the current system provides insufficient motivation for creation, while others argue for abolishing copyright protection altogether. The ideal copyright system provides a strong enough reward to ensure that all worthwhile artistic works are made in order to provide the maximum benefit to society. Under the current system, this is done by providing creators a temporary monopoly over their creations so that they can reap the benefit of their work before it is turned over to the public. However, the optimal duration of this reward should depend on what is necessary to convince artists to create.
The issue arises when this temporary monopoly becomes, effectively, a permanent monopoly. By continually extending copyright terms before the copyright protection on works expires, Congress has allowed Disney and other companies advocating for these extensions to keep an entire body of work out of the hands of the public. There may be valid arguments to support extending copyright terms to motivate authors to create. However, a system that effectively prevents any social benefit from being realized by allowing authors eternal monopolies cannot be in society’s best interest.
Authored by Jonathan Lurie, LegalMatch Legal Writer and Attorney at Law
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