Have you all not seen the Disney lawyers at work? They come down like a ton of bricks on even the tiniest infraction of their character rights. Facebook, Pinterest, Etsy…it is not pretty. If it continues it is only a matter of time until the hammer comes down. - Rich
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A great story about Disney lawyers. About 15 years ago when I was still working at the University of Oregon, Disney suddenly seemed to discover after decades that the Oregon mascot, Donald was actually Donald Duck in a green and gold sailor suit. My friend Matt who oversaw UO trademarks and marketing at the time was summoned to Disney headquarters and told to bring all the legal documentation showing how the UO was the only University in the world allowed to use a Disney trademarked figure as a mascot. Matt searched and searched – and found the only thing there was – a black and white photo of Walt shaking hands with his friend who happened to be the UO President at the time (the 1940’s I believe) in front of both the Disney Donald and the UO Donald. 
He went down to LA all alone with a great deal of trepidation and was shown into a large conference room with an army of stern looking attorneys sitting around a big table. He was told to share his documentation, and he handed them the picture. In silence they passed it from one to another around the table. Then, one at a time, they folded up their portfolios and left the room, leaving just one attorney. He gave a deep sigh and said “OK – let’s put together something a little more formal.”
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Don’t know if this is a true story or just folklore. Either way, I’m going to believe it’s true and enjoy the story even more.
- Tom
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I got it from Matt himself shortly after that trip – so I’m going to go with the truth of it.
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Amazing story! Checks out with the wikipedia version too, for whatever that’s worth.
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During WWII, Walt and the Disney artists would create custom insignia for any military unit that requested one. The next time you watch an old war film, pay attention to the nose art on bombers – they were almost always pin-up girls or Disney characters.
http://www.skylighters.org/disney/index.html
also,
Disney During World War II: How the Walt Disney Studio Contributed to Victory… https://www.amazon.com/dp/1423180275/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_gStDybNSYT77F
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Very cool!
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Here’s the link for that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Duck#Relationship_with_Disney
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Someday I should tell you about the short lived career of “Roboduck” as a mascot
The top reason is the fact that there are perma-extensions by congress on the length of copyrights.
In the early 1800’s, it was under 30 years terms. Then it became 40, increasing the last time in the late 70s where it is now over 100 years from the date of creation.
Depending on what type of copyright, it can be after the author’s death that the clock starts counting.
Just like patents, the intent is to allow creation of works protected for some period of time to spur the creation of arts/works. Its been changed to basically be a source of revenue for companies and for 3 generations of the family after the death of the author.
We are living in a very dark age from a standpoint of getting works into the public domain. It stifles innovation not being able to build upon what was created in the last century. I have no doubt that is Shakespeare created his works in the last 100 years, they would still be under copyright, and you would not see the plethora of derivative works based on his plays and work like we do today (as one small example).
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Quite possible, if not likely. Which would mean that his works, alone, would shine even brighter as the only examples of those stories. No (I’ve chosen a poor word here) rip-offs. That’s not stifling innovation, it’s preserving it and forcing people to actually be innovative, rather than derivative.
That said, I’m simply providing a view from one angle. I’m not saying that there isn’t merit to what you’re saying. I’m not even saying that I endorse what I’ve said above. Just pointing out a valid opposing view.
- Tom
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