The Walt Disney Company has become well known for protecting its
copyright on the Mickey Mouse character, whose likeness is so closely
associated with the company, with particular zeal. Disney has lobbied
for and achieved repeated copyright term extensions from the United
States and the European Union that have prevented the character from
entering the public domain. Disney's lobbying efforts have contributed
to the ability of other copyright owners to extend their copyrights as
well. This has caused the United States, once known for its
restrictions on copyrights and respect for the public domain, to
develop one of the most restrictive copyright policies in the world.
Original copyright law saw the rights remain for only 56 years. Some
of these copyrighted items remained quite profitable for their
copyright owners, including several characters owned by the Walt
Disney Company. With the passage of the 1976 copyright act, Mickey
Mouse, along with early animated short films such as Steamboat Willie
and Plane Crazy, would not enter the public domain until 2000 at the
earliest due to their new 75-year copyright terms.
Under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic
Works, the signatory states are required to provide copyright
protection for a minimum term of the life of the author plus fifty
years, but they are permitted to provide for a longer term of
protection, and between 1993 and 1996 the European Union provided
protection for a term of the author's life plus seventy years (see
Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection). The United
States did not become a Berne signatory until 1988, but had previously
provided for the minimum copyright term the convention required in the
Copyright Act of 1976.
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended copyright
terms in the United States by 20 years. Before the act, an author's
copyright would last until fifty years after his death. After the act,
an author's copyright would last until seventy years after his death,
while copyrights for works of corporate authorship would last 75 to 95
years. The act also affected copyright terms for copyrighted works
published prior to January 1, 1978, increasing their term of
protection by 20 years as well. This effectively 'froze' the
advancement date of the public domain in the United States for works
covered by the older fixed term copyright rules. Under this act, no
additional works made in 1923 or after, that were still copyrighted in
1998, will enter the public domain until 2019. Unlike copyright
extension legislation in the European Union, the Sonny Bono Act did
not revive copyrights that had already expired. However, the act did
extend the terms of protection set for works that were already
copyrighted, and is retroactive in that sense.
As a consequence of the act, under current law, no copyrighted works
will enter into the public domain in the United States until January
1, 2019 at the earliest, when the copyright on works created in 1923
would expire.
In addition to Disney (whose extensive lobbying efforts inspired the
nickname "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act"), Mary Bono (Sonny Bono's
widow and Congressional successor) and the estate of George Gershwin
supported the act. |
