2016-11-11
Mickey Mouse is the most successful and well known creation from Disney. Traditionally, under the Intellectual Property (IP) rules, a copyright can only be maintained for 50 years. However, even though the character was created in 1928 (88 years ago), Mickey Mouse continue to be under the ownership of the Walt Disney Company. How has this happened and what can your business learn from it?
Turn back the Clock
When Mickey Mouse was first created, he came under the 1909 Copyright Act which stipulated 56 years of IP protection under the law. So, accordingly, Mickey Mouse would be out in the public domain by 1984. However, this did not happen.
As the date of Mickey Mouse’s IP protection expiration grew closer, the Walt Disney Company decided to take action. They began lobbying for a New Copyright Rule with lawmakers. This effort paid off.
In 1976, 8 years before the copyright expired and exposed Mickey Mouse to the public domain, the Copyright law was overhauled to grant copyright protection for 75 years. This provided the Walt Disney Company and Mickey Mouse another 19 years of IP protection. Now, the Copyright protection was extended from 1984 to 2003.
In Comes the 90s
True to its nature, once we entered the 1990s, the Walt Disney Company again began to work on protecting Mickey Mouse and keeping it away from the public domain. It began lobbying to lawmakers, and in 1998, the Copyright Term Extension Act was passed which extended the copyright protection from 75 years to 95 years. This effectively increased Mickey Mouse’s copyright for 20 years, setting it to be expired by 2023.
In certain circles, the Copyright Term Extension Act is also known as Mickey Mouse Protection Act, the reason for that is quite clear.
Canada Mickey Mouse Copyright
All of the above laws passed applies to the United States. So, what protection does Canada offer Mickey Mouse? According to the Copyright Act of Canada, Mickey Mouse has protection for 50 years. It is set to enter into the public domain in 2017, which is next year.
However, will it?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a trade agreement between the USA and several countries including Canada. One of the provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is IP. Countries that are part of the trade agreement have to grant Copyright Protection for 70 years.
While Canada has signed this agreement, it still has to ratify it.
Trademarked
Not only is Mickey Mouse Copyright protected, it is also trademark protected. Compared to Copyright, Mickey Mouse will continue to have trademark protection so long as the character is in use.
Whether your agree or disagree with the Walt Disney Company’s method, Mickey Mouse does make for an interesting case study. This is a character that’s made the Walt Disney Company and even though it isn’t a huge money maker today, the Walt Disney Company is doing everything in its power to ensure Mickey Mouse is still under its domain.
