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Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Why Public Domain Spells Bad News For the Future

A quick post. I've been busy with artistic projects, mainly a comic book, so I'll be less a monster poster, but I'm still blogging. I ain't retiring this thing any time soon.

I am genuinely surprised that the majority of the Cartoon Cult is actually happy about the public domain news on Mickey. I guess the reason is that people want the Thunderbean Blu-Ray of Disney cartoons since the early ones have never received a restoration in the last decade. And I must be a heretic, because I don't agree. Says Sean Dudley on Cartoon Research:

Here is the virtolic reaction from the IADB's resident Disney hater, either John K. or Marc Eliot in disguise:

Ah, I love balanced commentary!

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but you need to think of the scary possibilities here:

In the fast-approaching 2030s, the early Donald and Daffy and Bugs are next. And let's move outside of just cartoons. According to a Grunge article, Superman goes public domain in 2033, and Batman 2034 (I really don't want to imagine what these two will go through...together.)

There is something I don't understand about all this: For example, Lyons Partnership, the intellectual owners of Barney the Dinosaur, has lost lawsuits because a "parody" is not breaking copyright. Well, isn't Mickey's Mouse Trap a parody?

So, the point being, the future is a scary place, so the next post will be an escapist view, unless something else in the news turns up.

6 comments:

  1. Hans Christian BrandoFebruary 9, 2024 at 1:42 PM

    If Shakespeare and Beethoven can handle being public domain, so can Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It should be noted that only the first Mickey design created by Ub Iwerks has fallen into the public domain; the official Mickey design remains in the private domain, so there's no point whining about the end of the Mickey Mouse character's career...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't know how I'm "whining", but you missed my point. Note what I said is in store for the future.

      Delete
    2. Why spit on the public domain? It doesn't make sense.
      The public domain is very important for anyone who wants to use works without having to pay copyright royalties, and this must be respected.

      Delete
    3. I dunno...why are you spittin' on me?!

      This is going nowhere--I wish you'd stop harassing me about my opinions!

      Delete
    4. But I'm not spitting on you.
      I'd just like to understand your opinion, but you don't seem to be very open-minded.
      Please, make an effort to better argue your opinion and I'll be more than willing to listen.

      Delete

I try to answer every comment, even if it takes awhile.

Absolutely no hard language.