Steamboat Willie has entered public domain in 2024

[NotHardUp1]

So, not sure what all it will portend as other copyrights finally expire, but there's quite a buzz about Steamboat Willie finally outliving its copyright protection.

It's not really the kind of Willie I get excited to see, but here it is all the same:

 

[Alistair]

I don’t think copyrights should ever expire. I know Disney is a corporation now but it’s still unfair for someone else to profit off of another's talent

 

[NotHardUp1]

The law recognizes the reasonable time that a creator should be able to claim earnings from his creation. Most do not receive nearly as long as Disney did.

The society doesn't owe a corporation indefinite profits because they paid an artist 100 years ago for their art. Allowing for 25 years, or 50, or 100, gives the artist a literal lifetime to exploit copies of his creation.

Like tangible goods, I don't think our society or any other has the obligation to ensure the descendants of rich people can become rich by exploiting the work of their ancestors. We should support a meritocracy, not dynastics power. We need no royals without titles, or with.

A century is a very reasonable time to pass before an animation can be copied without penalty or payment. The usefulness is more obvious when something like the printed version of Happy Birthday To You! is freed from eternal encumbrance.

 

[Peloso]

I never cared for that annoying little rodent.

 

[rareboy]

Well, get ready for lots of Steamboat Willie porno t-shirts and cartoons.

 

[TickTockMan]

I don’t think copyrights should ever expire. I know Disney is a corporation now but it’s still unfair for someone else to profit off of another's talent

In that case Walt shouldn't have profited from him. Walt stole what became Mickey from a supposed friend. Walt made him famous, but he didn't create him.

 

[gaysian85]

I’ve always thought it was interesting that Minnie looks exactly like Mickey in drag and yet they are in love with each other.

 

[jjonn3]

Nice to see your post correctly says "Steamboat Willie" is now in the public domain. I see all these news stories about it being Mickey Mouse - but it is just the early Steamboat Willie" version.

Disney still owns and controls the later and more recognizable versions - and they still have a trademark on the character.

 

[LeicsDom]

Nice to see your post correctly says "Steamboat Willie" is now in the public domain. I see all these news stories about it being Mickey Mouse - but it is just the early Steamboat Willie" version.

Disney still owns and controls the later and more recognizable versions - and they still have a trademark on the character.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67833411
But that is still a version of Mickey

 

[NotHardUp1]

I never cared for that annoying little rodent.

I've never been a fan of Mickey in any of his incarnations. Nothing against him, just not charmed by him. But, I don't think I'm a fair judge, as entertainments, e.g., minstrel shows, vaudeville acts, circuses, freak shows, passion plays, silent films, et al., are really not things we can "see" with the right eyes. They were created for a time and people and mores and humor we no longer fully share. It's a bit like judging the Romans or Greeks or Turks for having slaves.

I did love comics with Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and and other early animations. And I loved Warner Brothers' characters.

Loved DIsney movies as a kid, and even now, but would rather go to a funeral than a theme park.

I’ve always thought it was interesting that Minnie looks exactly like Mickey in drag and yet they are in love with each other.

So, they look like a lot of young gay couples?

 

[NotHardUp1]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67833411
But that is still a version of Mickey

I'm sure if you make the mistake of putting light wedges in his pupils or have him sporting white gloves, you'll be getting a Cease & Desist letter from the good people in the Magic Kingdom.

 

[gsdx]

Before he became known as Mickey, he was known as Mortimer Mouse. Mortimer was a bit of an arrogant prick. Walt Disney provided the voice.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Before he became known as Mickey, he was known as Mortimer Mouse. Mortimer was a bit of an arrogant prick. Walt Disney provided the voice.

One of my favorite scenes in Blue Iguana is the one where Sam Rockwell's character whips his soon-to-be girlfriend's ex in a busy restaurant in England, and the outraged ex, a Brit, while pinned to a table with his arm behind his back, nonetheless rages, "Take your HAND off me, you Am-ERICAN PRICK!!!"

[Obligatory movie GIF, unrelated to scene]

Just priceless.

 

[purina]