And the Copyright Goes Marching On
It was on this day in 1790 that Congress enacted the United States copyright law. The law gave authors exclusive rights to publish and sell maps, charts and books for a period of fourteen years, with a chance to renew the copyright for another fourteen years. There have been many changes to the U.S. copyright law since 1790. In the nineteenth century, copyrights became available for photographs, paintings, drawings and models. In 1909, musical rolls for player pianos became covered by the law. In the last thirty years, copyright law has expanded to include cable TV, computer software, tapes, CDs, DVDs, and, most recently, MP3s.
…Disney’s famous characters were scheduled to enter the public domain between 2000 and 2004…
Copyright terms have also gradually gotten longer. Up until 1998, copyrights lasted for the life of the author plus an additional fifty years before they went into the public domain. But in that year, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act extended the duration of copyrights by twenty years. The act was supported by a group of large corporations, led by Disney. Most of Disney’s famous characters were scheduled to enter the public domain between 2000 and 2004, but now other artists and companies won’t be able to use them in their books and movies and songs until at least 2019—which means that Disney has another thirteen years of making money off Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and all the rest.
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I really do enjoy posts like this. Thanks.
I had no idea that copyright went back so far! I love learning new things.
Jack - I like reading them and posting them… All thanks to Garrison Keillor who writes them..
Tammi - me too! I love finishing a day knowing something I didn’t knowwhen I woke up. It’s the sense of accomplishment
I find the new copyright extensions to be another typical case of corporate privilege at the expense of everyone else. Hobbles a lot of artists too. With my light hearted dark humor (if there is such a thing) I like quip that Sonny Bono died much too fast. It should have lasted 20 years. Then if there is cosmic karma of some sort maybe…
Scott - True, but if he did last, there was always the possibility of him taking up singing again… it was bad enough the first time round.