I think we're losing sight of the goals of intellectual property law. Society as a whole benefits greatly from a rich public domain. The starting point in IP l

I think we're losing sight of the goals of intellectual property law. Society as a whole benefits greatly from a rich public domain. The starting point in IP law is that there are no rights in ideas. Then from that starting point, we start to carve out exceptions that make sense from a market perspective. We grant trademarks, because the market benefits from being able to identify the source of a thing. We grant patents and copyright protection, because they incent innovation, and innovation is good for the market. The protections that copyright law affords have more than rewarded Walt Disney for his innovations. The Constitution specifically requires that copyright protection be limited in term. In my mind, the time has come for Mickey to drop into the public domain.