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 You might have seen in the news about the
copyright expiration of Disney's original version of Mickey Mouse, as seen in
Steamboat Willie
and Plane Crazy. Per
the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO), as a general rule current copyright law for works created
after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus
an additional 70 years. All my (and your) original publically "published" RF Cafe
material, regardless of whether officially registered with the USPTO, is covered
by copyright law.
Archive.org
is a valuable source of proof of first instance. Usage exceptions per "fair use"
law is allowed. As is the case for most legal matters, many special cases, exceptions,
and allowances are provided to help keep lawyers employed. Works published prior
to 1978 are protected for 95 years. 2023 - 95 = 1928, so anything published on or
before 1928 is no longer copyrighted. That includes the original rendition of Mickey
Mouse. (Walt Disney died in 1966, BTW) Dilbert comic strip creator Scott Adams exploited
the situation with the strip shown above. Ironically, that comic strip depicting
the now public domain Mickey Mouse will be protected by copyright for 70 year
beyond the lifetime of Scott Adams (who, to the disappointment of
Wokesters, still lives). If I so desire, I can now incorporate
Mickey Mouse into the RF Cafe logo, but I won't.
Check out the Public Domain Day
pages on the Duke Law School website for some good info.
Posted January 5, 2024
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