I wonder if Disney's own power in that regard has waned as of late. I think there was a potential copyright expansion some time ago and it never came to fruition, almost as if Disney...just didn't care?
I wonder if Disney's own power in that regard has waned as of late.
It clearly has. People half-joked for ages about Disney lobbying for yet another Mickey Mouse copyright extension - a joke which, in itself, made the thing less likely. But as Mickey started to hit the public domain, not only was the public watching out for that kind of legislative abuse - Disney was itself in a precarious position, more entangled with the culture war than ever before. They no longer have many friends in high places, relative to how it once was; the Republicans hate the gays and the Democrats hate Americana.
I guess it makes sense, the De Santis vs. Disney episode of the Culture War had the right looking at copyright terms, and that probably made Disney flinch when it came to Steamboat Willy.
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Notes -
I wonder if Disney's own power in that regard has waned as of late. I think there was a potential copyright expansion some time ago and it never came to fruition, almost as if Disney...just didn't care?
It clearly has. People half-joked for ages about Disney lobbying for yet another Mickey Mouse copyright extension - a joke which, in itself, made the thing less likely. But as Mickey started to hit the public domain, not only was the public watching out for that kind of legislative abuse - Disney was itself in a precarious position, more entangled with the culture war than ever before. They no longer have many friends in high places, relative to how it once was; the Republicans hate the gays and the Democrats hate Americana.
I guess it makes sense, the De Santis vs. Disney episode of the Culture War had the right looking at copyright terms, and that probably made Disney flinch when it came to Steamboat Willy.
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