This is pretty scary...looks like Mickey Mouse could be shilling for other companies one day. Hope he doesn't suffer the fate of Calvin, who became the decal boy with a bladder problem...
Cherished works could be placed in public domain
(Supreme Court-AP) -- Mickey Mouse's days exclusively at
Disney could be numbered.
The Supreme Court will hear a landmark copyright case on
Wednesday that could thrust the earliest images of Disney's
mascot and other closely held creative property into the public
domain.
An Internet publisher is challenging a 1998 law that
extends copyright protections an additional 20 years for cultural
works.
That means movies, plays, books and music are now protected
for 70 years after the author's death -- or for 95 years if
they're created by or for a corporation.
The plaintiffs claim Congress acted unconstitutionally by
extending copyright protection eleven times in the past 40 years.
They argue the founding fathers intended for copyrights to
expire.
But the government and industry officials argue that
Congress -- not the courts -- has the job of balancing copyright
law.
Cherished works could be placed in public domain
(Supreme Court-AP) -- Mickey Mouse's days exclusively at
Disney could be numbered.
The Supreme Court will hear a landmark copyright case on
Wednesday that could thrust the earliest images of Disney's
mascot and other closely held creative property into the public
domain.
An Internet publisher is challenging a 1998 law that
extends copyright protections an additional 20 years for cultural
works.
That means movies, plays, books and music are now protected
for 70 years after the author's death -- or for 95 years if
they're created by or for a corporation.
The plaintiffs claim Congress acted unconstitutionally by
extending copyright protection eleven times in the past 40 years.
They argue the founding fathers intended for copyrights to
expire.
But the government and industry officials argue that
Congress -- not the courts -- has the job of balancing copyright
law.
