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Mickey is trademarked. Old Mickey Mouse movies, like Steamboat Willie, will be free to copy and distribute but I don’t think other people will be permitted to p
by naravara 9y ago
Mickey is trademarked. Old Mickey Mouse movies, like Steamboat Willie, will be free to copy and distribute but I don’t think other people will be permitted to produce new works starting Mickey Mouse.
It’s a bit of a legal gray area. I don’t think anyone has settled the question about whether trademarking characters runs afoul of the constitutional prohibition on perpetual copyright.
Based on how much money Disney has put into absorbing every trademarked franchise ever (Marvel, Star Wars, etc.), it seems like they’re willing to bet on those trademarks being enforceable.
- darepublic 9y agoAh ok. Does international law vary on this? Can Disney sue IP violators in other countries over this and who would enforce it
- sohkamyung 9y agoYes, they can and they have. You can search for articles on Disney suing people in places like China for selling or featuring images of Mickey Mouse (or lookalikes). A perverse effect (I think) of trademarks is that the owner of a trademark has to sue to protect it from infringement: otherwise, it becomes a common mark, not a trademark, and is usable by anybody.
- sohkamyung 9y agoSherlock Holmes is also a grey area. My understanding is that the original Sherlock Holmes stories written by Conan Doyle are public domain, but not Holmes material written at a later date [1] - "“Sherlock Holmes” Is Now Officially Off Copyright and Open for Business" [ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sherlock-holmes-now-officially-copyright-and-open-business-180951794/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sherlock-holmes-no... ]