2004-bye bye mickey mouse

epcot71

New Member
Original Poster
ok well not really- disney in 2004 looses sole rights to mickey mouse.mickey mouses name becomes public domain .disney is trying through congress to extend the license for another 30 years-and then will try to come up with a way of legally keeping his name and character forever.-what this all means is disney doesnt loose mickey but legally anybody and thier mother can come up thier own version of mickey mouse and use the name for merchandise,movies,etc.so all the day cares disney sued for having mickey on thier walls can put them back up unless disney passes the 30 year extension.
 

dwldzm9

New Member
this is true...

i am in design school and we constantly have discussions about copyright laws... I think the current statute is after like 75 or 80 years the copyrighted material becomes public domain.

given the current state of media, i think they will have to restructure this.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by DisneyInsider
I would think since Walt created and copywrote the mouse it would be theirs forever. Where did you see this?

Well actually, Walt didn't create Mickey.. somebody else did, and he took the sketch and used it with permission for Steamboat Willie and copywrighted it. They made fun of this in a Simpsons episode... but thats a whole different story alltogether....
 

Pioneer Hall

Well-Known Member
Walt drew Mickey on a train ride from New York to Los Angelas (i think these were the places). He created it and had other people draw it in cartoons. Walt actually didn't draw Steamboat Willie either. Ub Iwerks did.
 

monorail256

Member
yeah... if your interested in Ub you can buy the book at disney world. its a really interesting book i belive its called "the man behind the mouse... or ... the man behind the hand" its very interesting and youll learn about walt and ub in it... well worth the money... for those of you non-readers.. i did see the video of it on disney store website a month ago... they may not have it anymore, but its still interesting... just thought id say :D
 
Originally posted by DisneyInsider
Walt drew Mickey on a train ride from New York to Los Angelas (i think these were the places). He created it and had other people draw it in cartoons. Walt actually didn't draw Steamboat Willie either. Ub Iwerks did.
it was manhattn to chicago
 

epcot71

New Member
Original Poster
Re: this is true...

Originally posted by dwldzm9
i am in design school and we constantly have discussions about copyright laws... I think the current statute is after like 75 or 80 years the copyrighted material becomes public domain.

given the current state of media, i think they will have to restructure this.

yes i think a patent lasts for 75 years.now the name mickey mouse looses the patent not the likelyness.the way he looks is disneys but anyone can make a mouse looking character and call it mickey if disney doesnt get the extension for another 30 years.if disney looses the patent the will have to preceed mickey mouse with disneys mickey mouse or disneys origional mickey mouse to seperate it from the new ones u might see spirting up.
im not too worried though because if anyone chooses to use the name or character it will be cheesy(no pun intended).ever see all those videos by a no name brand company that has snow white ,cinderella,alladan,etc-the art work is lame and so is the story and they dont sell because people will know the quality is with disney and buy the disney version of these characters.

also did u know that walt did in fact come up with mickey mouse on atrain u guys were right but he called him mortimor mouse but his wife lilly didnt like it and she was the one who named him mickey
 

Pioneer Hall

Well-Known Member
Re: Re: this is true...

Originally posted by epcot71
also did u know that walt did in fact come up with mickey mouse on atrain u guys were right but he called him mortimor mouse but his wife lilly didnt like it and she was the one who named him mickey

This is also the reason that one of Mickey's rivals name is Mortimer. Mortimer would fight with Mickey for Minnie's heart.
 

NowInc

Well-Known Member
woohoo..multimeda laws..something I know about..

The original copyright laws would have caused mickey to be out of "sole rights" about 5 years ago..but...Disney polled to change the law..and won. Once the time comes again, they will do it again. In fact..the new "clause" was deemed "The mickey Bill" (or something similar) because of it...
 

epcot71

New Member
Original Poster
Originally posted by NowInc
woohoo..multimeda laws..something I know about..

The original copyright laws would have caused mickey to be out of "sole rights" about 5 years ago..but...Disney polled to change the law..and won. Once the time comes again, they will do it again. In fact..the new "clause" was deemed "The mickey Bill" (or something similar) because of it...

just as my new york grandma says to me"from your mouth to gods ears":sohappy:
 

NowInc

Well-Known Member
*puts on geek glasses*

Well..the thing is that disney has won this before..and WILL win again. The process is actually a lot easier than you would think..but now they want to make it "corporate specific"..which..would mean that IF you can proove the symbols under the copyright are in fact your corporate identiy (such as Mickey is for Disney)..then as long as the company exists..it is protected..They pushed for that last time..but they were short on time and settled for the "extension"..now they have more planning time so they will have a much more organized case...

This would also work to their advantage inadvertanly in such situations where they didnt invent characters and want to use their likeness in certain situations... but thats a whole other thread...
 

epcot71

New Member
Original Poster
Originally posted by NowInc
*puts on geek glasses*

Well..the thing is that disney has won this before..and WILL win again. The process is actually a lot easier than you would think..but now they want to make it "corporate specific"..which..would mean that IF you can proove the symbols under the copyright are in fact your corporate identiy (such as Mickey is for Disney)..then as long as the company exists..it is protected..They pushed for that last time..but they were short on time and settled for the "extension"..now they have more planning time so they will have a much more organized case...

This would also work to their advantage inadvertanly in such situations where they didnt invent characters and want to use their likeness in certain situations... but thats a whole other thread...

yes for example hunch back of notre dame. hey man is there magix crumbs all over ur keyboard?????
 

dwldzm9

New Member
Thanks

Now,

thanks for the clarification. I'm just in the first year of school and so they are still giving overviews of these types of things, but I am very interested since I am negotiating a deal to do a corporate identity package with a corporation co-owned by a friend of my parents - and WOW do they need it.

So, if they succeed with this new bill then all of the UPSs and Quaker Oats of the world will then have their identity protected as well... huh. you think they would be publicly backing DIS on this one. Or maybe they are and I just haven't heard about it. A lot of the best known American corporate identities were done 45-60 or there abouts and so if this doesn't pass congress will end up dealing with this over and over.... definitely in their best interest to get it handled now. I mean, I can't imagine a different "Coca-cola," can you?
 

dwldzm9

New Member
maybe i should clarify - i am in my fourth year of college but my first of design school... 145 credit hours and still basically a freshman...GRRR
 

NowInc

Well-Known Member
Well...the "deadline" isnt for a few more years yet..I am sure when the time comes (since Disney is the MAIN party interested in this since mickey is older than all other corporate symbols)..others will back them not only financtially..but with valid testimonies to change the laws of the old days.

This all comes into play actually since a LOT of copyright laws are getting re-written due to the unexpected lifespan of companies..as well as internet and various digial media. Its a BAD time to be studying multimedia law since by the time you graduate..things will be different. I took a few classes in it when i was in college (Had to...Multimedia law is a major factor in what I do...and im an "artist")..and it really cleared a LOT of this up for me.
 

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