Should Mickey Mouse be set free?

spa ced · 10-24-2002, 08:07 PM

If you dont know, there is a court case titled Eldred et. al. vs. Aschroft which challenges the constitutionality of copyright expansion. Currently, the life of a copyright is life plus seventy years. For example, Mickey Mouse was supposed to have become public domain in 2004 but due to the Sonny Bono 1998 Copyright Expansion Act any works created before 1976 were given an extra 20 years on their copyright life (totaling 95 years).
Which means Mickey will not become public domain until 2015 and basically cutting off most additions to public domain for at least 20 years.
I generally tend to slide with the pro copyright expansion people because I feel someone's work should always be paid for but I'm unsure as to how that would affect culture and public domain. Imagine if Santa Claus was still copyright protected, would Christmas every year be a little more expensive?
Where do you stand? I'm still a little confused by it all. I don't know whether to believe these multimillionare companies or proponents of public domain.
What are your thoughts?

View Poll Results: Which one are you in favor of?
Pro copyright life expansion	0	0%
Pro public domain	1	100.00%
Voters: 1. You may not vote on this poll

10-24-2002, 08:07 PM	#1
spa ced Braindead Location: Machu Picchu Posts: 15,291	Should Mickey Mouse be set free? If you dont know, there is a court case titled Eldred et. al. vs. Aschroft which challenges the constitutionality of copyright expansion. Currently, the life of a copyright is life plus seventy years. For example, Mickey Mouse was supposed to have become public domain in 2004 but due to the Sonny Bono 1998 Copyright Expansion Act any works created before 1976 were given an extra 20 years on their copyright life (totaling 95 years). Which means Mickey will not become public domain until 2015 and basically cutting off most additions to public domain for at least 20 years. I generally tend to slide with the pro copyright expansion people because I feel someone's work should always be paid for but I'm unsure as to how that would affect culture and public domain. Imagine if Santa Claus was still copyright protected, would Christmas every year be a little more expensive? Where do you stand? I'm still a little confused by it all. I don't know whether to believe these multimillionare companies or proponents of public domain. What are your thoughts? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. No contaban con mi astucia!