Almost a century of government-granted monopoly on a cartoon character. During this time, Disney earned multiple fortunes and was more than adequately rewarded for its creations. It still wants copyright to last even longer.
This isn't something, like a medical device or drug, that would save lives or make anything better if it was more widely available. Disney didn't go crazy with copyright, like copyrighting the concept of an animated mouse. All that will happen is we'll get a bunch of knockoff Mickey Mouse products.
Copyright is a bane to human culture.
Now Dylan also did a number of those relatively straight cover versions as well, but there are also quite a few instances where he more liberally took (occasionally self-admittedly "stole", see the sibling post by mikojan) parts of a melody (or sometimes even the whole melody) and re-worked it with new lyrics, or incorporated text fragments from other works into his lyrics, etc. etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVKTx9YlKls
Edit: Interview in the first 50 seconds. The song comes after that.
As for “knockoff” products. Imagine where Disney would be if the Brothers Grimm had maintained copyright over the stories they put into writing.
I didn't know Walt Disney is still alive
> All that will happen is we'll get a bunch of knockoff Mickey Mouse products.
For me, this was never about Disney. It was always about the gigantic amounts of non-Disney works that Disney has prevented from falling into the public domain.
My vote as an author and software developer is that copyright lasts 14 years plus a one time 14-year renewal, the original term.
I might agree to 28+14, but anything more is a net loss when considering the greater good.
It's ridiculous to argue copyright incentivizes innovation when Disney/Marvel/etc are comically uncreative, despite their vast resources. Sequel upon sequel...
Completely agree. They've already been compensated. If these corporations want to keep making money, they should have to create new works. They shouldn't be able to strike gold once then enjoy the monopoly for 500 years. Stuff like Star Wars should already have entered the public domain.
Copyright is time-limited and meant only to reward creators, not to allow billionaire corporations to coast on past successes for literal centuries. Copyright was actually tolerable before the monopolists corrupted it with their lobbying, now it's gotten to the point where copyright infringement is a moral good.
(That being said, there's never really been much Mickey media. This is the first ride featuring him, and he's never had his own full-length movie. Mickey is way closer to a trademark, in my opinion, and has always been that way.)
Fun fact: the guy who plays the Tres Commas VC in Silicon Valley is the current voice of Mickey Mouse.
All that is happening is that the government is finally saying, after 95 years, they will no longer stop anyone else creating Mickey Mouse works.
I mean really, just how long can a company expect the world to police whether anyone else is allowed draw a picture similar to one a long dead person once drew ?
After a few decades it has become part of our culture, and culture should not be gatekeeped by private companies forever. Disney itself constantly produces derivatives of private works that entered the public domain.
On a side note, copyright is absurdly long in USA, 95 years is longer than the life expectancy of most people.