I still don't understand why Disney has historically been so paranoid of Steamboat Willie entering the public domain anyway - Isn't Mickey protected well enough by trademark (which is perpetual so long as it's defended) that copyright on a 1928 cartoon is no longer instrumental in maintaining the proprietary protection of the character?
Copyright is as much (if not more) about power and control as is is about anything else. It's one more hammer in their toolset to whack others on the head with.
Don't forget that Disney really knows the power of public domain. Could you imagine if "Snow White" was allowed to enter the public domain? Anyone would be able to retell that story to their children without worrying about performing a copyrighted work in public without a licence!
Well they can do that anyway. Snow white is a fairy tale that's existed for hundreds of years. What's copyrighted specifically is the disney version of it.
Just a reminder: the Constitution requires that copyrights be of a "limited times".
If we keep pushing the year back in perpetuity, we should be honest about the fact that we're violating the Constitution.
I wouldn't be surprised. I am kind of surprised that we haven't heard rumbling already but with all the moves Disney has made maybe they are afraid of drawing too much attention to themselves and will wait.