2 ms·
Disney gets blamed a lot for this, but I don't really buy it. The copyright extension in '76 brought America into the same copyright duration as stipulated by t
by mannerheim 4y ago
Disney gets blamed a lot for this, but I don't really buy it. The copyright extension in '76 brought America into the same copyright duration as stipulated by the Berne Convention of 1886 (although the US would not sign on until a decade later), and the Sonny Bono act extended copyright length to the same as what had been harmonised in the EU a few years prior; Germany had had notoriously long copyright lengths, lasting 80 years past the death of the author at one point.
Don't get me wrong, copyright length is certainly too long, but blaming Disney is rather Americentric, considering the US was rather late to the game on long copyright durations.
- nearbuy 4y agoAnother point against the Mickey Mouse theory is that the trend ends on January 1st, 2024. Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain.
- oblio 4y agoThat's assuming there's no other extension :-)
- haspok 4y agoThere is no "95 years after publication" rule in the EU, so you cannot say the Sonny Bono act was a "harmonization". Wikipedia also states (with some sources), that "Since 1990, The Walt Disney Company had lobbied for copyright extension." It was in their best interest, they had the money, so no surprises there. I'm sure they weren't the only ones, but the largest, for sure.
- mannerheim 4y agoTrue, although in this case the US law is perhaps better than the EU one; the EU lacks any exceptions for works of joint authorship, including works for hire, so it's 70 years from the death of the last surviving author, which would usually exceed 95 years.