New Life for Old Classics, as Their Copyrights Run Out

[Brad]

This is a fairly interesting -- and important -- article about the effects of the legislation Congress passed in 1998, which extended copyright protections by 20 years. The law reset the copyright term for works published from 1923 to 1977 — lengthening it from 75 years to 95 years after publication. Time is now up on works published in 1923 and copyrighted works will be in the public domain.  

New Life for Old Classics, as Their Copyrights Run Out

[mjzee]

That was an interesting read; thanks for posting it.  I wonder how this copyright law change will affect the world of music, specifically in the realm of songwriting.  Will composers be able to lift melodic phrases from other songs and use them, mix and match them, without attribution to the original composer?  This could breathe a lot of vitality into new music.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I somewhat surprised that this law hasn't been updated again. It's all about Mickey Mouse, and there is no way Disney wants their iconic images in the public domain, where they can't make any money off of it, no matter what the law says.

[Scott Dolan]

1 minute ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I somewhat surprised that this law hasn't been updated again. It's all about Mickey Mouse, and there is no way Disney wants their iconic images in the public domain, where they can't make any money off of it, no matter what the law says.

The article is behind a paywall, so I can’t see it. Can you further explain how this is about Mickey Mouse, and why it would matter since Disney would never allow the copyright to expire? 

[JSngry]

If Public Domain laws are applied across the board, Disney would have no say. The copyright would expire and that would be that..

I like what PD laws do for literature. What they will do for songs and other compositions, I don't know. The freedom to use doesn't prevent the freedom to steal. That will depend on the character of the individuals (same as everything else.

I really don't like how the PD laws have been playing out for recordings though. If the Euro model is any indicator, it's mostly been a race to the bottom in terms of doing quality work. Then again, if people settle for that and spend on it, hey. THIS Invisible Hand got a bad case of warts, it needs some Compound W!

 

[Brad]

2 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

The article is behind a paywall, so I can’t see it. Can you further explain how this is about Mickey Mouse, and why it would matter since Disney would never allow the copyright to expire? 

The article indicates that the law is sometimes referred to as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act,” because it kept the first Disney film featuring Mickey, Steamboat Willie, under copyright until 2024. 

[JSngry]

And what's kind of "funny" about that is that there is a fairly good amount (relatively speaking) of pre-Mickey Disney work that IS in the public domain.

And to be honest, Steamboat Willie is not really that good, imo. But it is Mickey Mouse, and that's the franchise.

 

I like the Oswald cartoons.

 

 

 

[paul secor]

6 hours ago, mjzee said:

That was an interesting read; thanks for posting it.  I wonder how this copyright law change will affect the world of music, specifically in the realm of songwriting.  Will composers be able to lift melodic phrases from other songs and use them, mix and match them, without attribution to the original composer?  This could breathe a lot of vitality into new music.

Songwriters have always done similar things - to various degrees and with various degrees of stealth. It will take a lot more than that to breathe vitality into music these days.

[Scott Dolan]

17 hours ago, Brad said:

The article indicates that the law is sometimes referred to as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act,” because it kept the first Disney film featuring Mickey, Steamboat Willie, under copyright until 2024. 

Ah. Yeah, that’ll be extended. The initial copyright expiration was 1984.