If you know anything about Mickey Mouse, you’ll be able to tell us that his first outing was in 1928’s Steamboat Willie — an animated short that sees our hero as the hapless pilot of a riverboat battling an assortment of animals and his captain. It entered the public domain last year, meaning that it and the 1928 incarnation of Mickey are now free of any copyright obligation to the media giant.
There’s an interesting development from Florida on that front though as it seems Disney may have been testing this through legal means, and now a law firm wants to see them in court over their proposed use of the film in an advert.
Of course here at Hackaday we don’t cover the dry subject of Florida legal news as a rule, but we are interested in the world of copyright as it applies to many other things that do come under our eye. As we understand it the law firm is requesting the judge assert their protection from trademark claims over the use of Disney’s 1928 Willie, given that there have been claims from the entertainment giant against others doing the same thing.
It’s hardly surprising that a large corporation might seek to use legal muscle and trademark law to de facto extend the term of Mickey’s protection beyond the defined copyright expiration date, so for once it’s refreshing to see them come up against someone unafraid of a courtroom.
We hope that common sense will prevail, and this undermining of a cherished right (not to mention prior case law) is not allowed to succeed. Meanwhile if you’d like a 1928 Mickey that Disney have shied away from coming after, look no further than the EFF.
“We hope that common sense will prevail…”
Arcane laws, money-thirsty lawyers, and consumer interests are not good ingredients for creating common sense.
Good, glad a law firm picked a fight for something that is legally allowed. I hope they win because they should
Trademark, not copyright is heading tested.
If the simply published copies of steamboat Willy they’d be fine. But they seem to want to use it to promote their business, and trademarks are renewable indefinitely.
Trademark renewal demands continued use of the claimed item. If Disney isn’t regularly using Steamboat Willie in their promotion as a symbol for the company, they stand to lose the trademark.
So the question is about using Mickey Mouse the character, and whether the present Mickey is sufficiently similar to the 1928 Mickey mouse to count as regular use.
•> Major Design Changes: Redesigning the logo to include new shapes, graphics, or stylization.
Disney does regularly use it in their promotion. They often show a transition from old mickey to new mickey, probably for this exact reason. Is it often enough? We’ll see.
Imagine how silly songbook investors will look when say The Beatles catalog hits PD and all those past billion dollar sales will suddenly seem very silly. Commercial corporate art is hugely overvalued
Even if they win, it’s not like anyone’s going to pay Disney licensing fees to use Steamboat Willie in any capacity – it just isn’t worth it. So why?
Is it just Disney lawyers making work for themselves?
This post is ambiguously worded. A law firm is suing to have their clients use of Disney IP sanctioned by a judge.
It is a ‘man bites dog’ story, but it could have been worded a little more obviously.
I’m sorry, the law firm themselves wants to use “Steamboat” in an advert. Seems like a win win. They don’t charge themselves for representation, and the free coverage they get is advertising win or lose.