Mickey Mouse Copyright

NowInc

NowInc

Well-Known Member
they are going to TRY and fight it...

The copyright laws are going to be changed soon enough...In my industry (art/music/entertainment) this was a big issue since a lot of the old companies (Disney) had a LOT to lose by this....in fact, it would be enough to crush disney and give another company an unfair corporate advantage which would cause a takeover...

Disney will fight this until the end and will have PLEANTY of support from the entire industry.

The current problem is that although the copyright laws as they stand are FAIR...they arent fair for icons. Disney wants to basically change it so that if a company can proove its case, their material will be copyrighted forever...Mickey and his pals are not just characters anymore. This is the way it SHOULD be..and hopefully..the way it WILL be...
 
Pumbas Nakasak

Pumbas Nakasak

Heading for the great escape.
World Wide?

In these days of International commerce its hard to see how Copyright laws can remain unchanged unless of a political will supported by big buisness. Some parts of the world dont recognise copyright anyway.
Think youre right about the icon angle though there is a difference with things that have a symbolic meaning and ethos.
 
L

Leia's Mom

New Member
But Disney is smarter than that. If I am correct, Disney has a trademark in the image of Mickey. I am willing to bet that even if the copyright expires, they will use the trademark to prevent use.
 
NowInc

NowInc

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by Leia's Mom
But Disney is smarter than that. If I am correct, Disney has a trademark in the image of Mickey. I am willing to bet that even if the copyright expires, they will use the trademark to prevent use.
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Thats the problem...it all expires...They are trying to fight to PREVENT that..the original rights expired a few years ago but the law got changed JUST in time to avoid the grief...

They arent sitting idle while this goes on...trust me ;)
 
L

Leia's Mom

New Member
I don't think so. If my memory is correct (and I have to go back and check these every time), trademarks are renewable every ten years for additional ten year terms. Thus, provided that you have continuous use and file the appropriate filings (and pay the filing fee), trademark protection could be perpetual.

Plus, even without federal protection, I wouldn't think it difficult to argue that Disney has a common law trademark in Mickey Mouse. You can sue on a nonregistered trademark if you have common law protection.
 
NowInc

NowInc

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by Leia's Mom
I don't think so. If my memory is correct (and I have to go back and check these every time), trademarks are renewable every ten years for additional ten year terms. Thus, provided that you have continuous use and file the appropriate filings (and pay the filing fee), trademark protection could be perpetual.

Plus, even without federal protection, I wouldn't think it difficult to argue that Disney has a common law trademark in Mickey Mouse. You can sue on a nonregistered trademark if you have common law protection.
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Ugh..now you got my brain working to because I am PRETTY sure there is a limit to how long you can renew it..

I mean. there is that whole 120 years after creation or 20 years after death thing (i forgot the exact #s and im too lazy to go get my law notes)...

Brain..hurts...
 
L

Leia's Mom

New Member
The creation/death thing is for copyrights. I could walk downstairs and get the treatise, but I'm too lazy as well. I did check the PTO site that confirmed the 10 year renewal thing.

The problem with the trademark is that it captures one picture. The copyright gives them the ability to take the image and manipulate it in just about any way and still have the protection.

I did a very brief search through the Patent & Trademark office web site to find a picture of Mickey Mouse, but I didn't find it. I found several Mickey Mouse marks (words or stylized words) but not the picture of the mouse. There were some of the three ring icon. Maybe copyright protection was enough -- especially since it is cheaper to obtain and much easier.

The other problem with the trademark is that it must be used to mark goods or services in order to get protection. Certainly Mickey does that, but not all of the time.

Disclaimer -- I could be wrong. It is late, and I am brain dead. It happens to the best of us :)

This is interesting. I'm intrigued now to see what happens with this.
 
Pumbas Nakasak

Pumbas Nakasak

Heading for the great escape.
I am puzzled as to the extent of your concerns, having read the article on the BBC site again is it not mainly refering to archive material?
are your concerns about rival parks movies or misuse of the image?
Lets face it there are plenty of non licenced products available anyway.
And at the risk of sounding nieve these law changes are under American law and as such dont apply to the rest of the world anyway.
 
NowInc

NowInc

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by Leia's Mom
The creation/death thing is for copyrights. I could walk downstairs and get the treatise, but I'm too lazy as well. I did check the PTO site that confirmed the 10 year renewal thing.

The problem with the trademark is that it captures one picture. The copyright gives them the ability to take the image and manipulate it in just about any way and still have the protection.

I did a very brief search through the Patent & Trademark office web site to find a picture of Mickey Mouse, but I didn't find it. I found several Mickey Mouse marks (words or stylized words) but not the picture of the mouse. There were some of the three ring icon. Maybe copyright protection was enough -- especially since it is cheaper to obtain and much easier.

The other problem with the trademark is that it must be used to mark goods or services in order to get protection. Certainly Mickey does that, but not all of the time.

Disclaimer -- I could be wrong. It is late, and I am brain dead. It happens to the best of us :)

This is interesting. I'm intrigued now to see what happens with this.
Click to expand...

Well what Disney is trying to prevent is 3rd parties from making Mickey merchandice....this would really be a kick to them and would put then deep into financial turmoil almost for sure...

Its a very "complicated" situation which, I agree, will be very interesting to see how it turns out. There are a LOT of companies out there who will be effected by this one way or the other..so lets hope everything gets done "fairly"...

And yep..as you said earlier..this is only for US rights...other countries are going to complicate this matter further...

Ah..im glad i didnt want to get into law.....
 
L

Leia's Mom

New Member
I should have read the article more closely. They mentioned the TM protection there. Oh well. . .

I think a TM would be sufficient to stop third parties from making Mickey Mouse merchandise -- provided that there is a likelihood of confusion as to the source of the goods. I think that would be an easy argument to make.

But, I am sure that the Disney lawyers will be working overtime on this one. I only hope it doesn't lead to bad law.

When I was in law school, my intellectual property professor said that the one rule which overruled all of the other rules, laws, regulations, case law, etc. was as follows: "Disney always wins".
 
Pumbas Nakasak

Pumbas Nakasak

Heading for the great escape.
The thing I would be concerned about is not the impact of possible "other Disneys" people are a bit to smart to fall for that. But the growing availability of pirated products from the former Eastern block and China. since the demise of Yugoslavia, the biggest industry is pirate products, which depending on if youre a shareholder or not are actually very good copys, Ahhhemmm or so ive heard.
Disney must loose millions this way. And theres nothing they can do because Bosnia has no copyright laws whatso ever.
 
NowInc

NowInc

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by happy snapper
The thing I would be concerned about is not the impact of possible "other Disneys" people are a bit to smart to fall for that. But the growing availability of pirated products from the former Eastern block and China. since the demise of Yugoslavia, the biggest industry is pirate products, which depending on if youre a shareholder or not are actually very good copys, Ahhhemmm or so ive heard.
Disney must loose millions this way. And theres nothing they can do because Bosnia has no copyright laws whatso ever.
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Not yet...

On a similar topic tho they are trying to figure out a way to make DVDs uncopyable (yeah right..didnt work for CDs...not about to work on DVD)....
 

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