3 ms·
Does this mean that the Steamboat Willie depiction of Mickey can be used in the public domain? Or just that the movie is free to distribute after that time?
by chrisco255 6y ago
Does this mean that the Steamboat Willie depiction of Mickey can be used in the public domain? Or just that the movie is free to distribute after that time?
- fao_ 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain
- mromanuk 6y agoThis article explains it thoroughly, Mickey Mouse is protected by copyright, but it also is protected by trademark, which doesn’t has a time limit. There is a comparison with a Peter Rabbit, which entered public domain in 1979 and Zorro. The corporation that owns the brand, successfully used trademark law to stop a third party. https://www.gandb.com/2019/08/steamboat-willie-mickey-mouse-copyrights-and-trademark-protection-part-iii-of-iii/ https://www.gandb.com/2019/08/steamboat-willie-mickey-mouse-...
- fao_ 6y agoAh, so yet another comment that could have been avoiding by reading the article and not just the headline? :) Remember when hacker news had people on it who did such things :) Because I don't :)