Mickey Mouse© is getting pretty old. Animators Walt and Ub created "him" in 1928, "he" debuted in the animated movie Steamboat Willie and over the years was featured in a number of movies but became most famous for being the official icon of the Walt Disney Company. Although "he" was "born" on the 18th of November 1928 "he" is still protected by copyright, at least until 2023. This means that for example any copying of a picture of Mickey© is illegal. For instance if you would follow the hypertext above to the site and you would click the picture with the right button of your mouse, having shown the toolbar you would go to Copy Image which saves a copy of it on your computer, you would be doing a felony against WD and his Company. Even worse if you would print it on your shirt.In the US copyright was regulated within the Copyright Act of 1976 under which copyright lasted 50 years after the authors death. With the so called "Mickey Mouse Protection Act" (officially the Copyright Term Extension Act) from 1998 copyright terms in the US were extended for 20 years having now 70 years after the authors death or 95 years after publication. A similar bill was passed in the EU with copyright also lasting 70 years. There should be no doubt that that before 2023 there will be another Copyright Term Extension Act.
Copyright is as the word says the right to copy which is by law given to the author. Only he, or a subject given authorisation by him, can make copies of certain material. This was spouse to encourage further development and creativity and it had its logic appliance in the material world. But with the coming of the cyber-era in the institution of copyright entered problems.
Certainly there can't be a person who uses the Internet who has never violated copyright material. Even if one does not wish to engage in peer-to-peer sharing. Just by taking a picture that you liked and copying it you could of not knowingly violated someone's copyright.
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| Mickey and Friends |
On the one hand you can argue that the institution itself is pointless because society and creativity never benefited from it. Yes someone would became rich but how does that benefit society. As John Oswald sad "if creativity is a field, copyright is the fence". Following the story of shared economy one may be fain to see the Internet as a bearer of a new kind of sharing activity. Copyright does not fit in there, or does it? The anti-copyright movement is based on information technology and so far the law is having major difficulties in catching (up with) it. Yet one should not underestimate The Mickey Mouse Company (and Friends), the only thing that is micky mouse about it is their mascot.
