◎Our reporter Sun Yue’s intern Yao Doudou
According to multiple media reports, the copyright of Mickey Mouse, the representative image of Disney, has expired on January 1, 2024. This means that the public can use the cartoon for free. However, the expired copyright is limited to the original version of Mickey Mouse design in "Steamboat Willie", and subsequent modified versions are still within the copyright protection period.
Suddenly, the topic "Mickey Mouse regained his freedom" aroused heated discussion. At the same time, the issue of copyright protection has once again entered the public eye. How to protect copyright, and what are the limits of protection?
Mickey Mouse copyright protection period extended twice
For a long time, "copyright fiend" Disney's hard-core rights protection operations have earned it the nickname "the most powerful legal department on the face of the earth." The 95-year-old age of Mickey Mouse, a popular IP, reflects Disney's "craziness" in copyright.
It is understood that the original Mickey Mouse appeared in the 1928 audio cartoon film "Steamboat Willie". According to the U.S. copyright law at the time, Mickey Mouse had a 56-year copyright protection period, which expired in 1984. After that, anyone could use the image of Mickey Mouse for free.
However, before Mickey Mouse's copyright was about to expire, Disney and other companies lobbied hard. Soon, the U.S. Congress passed the 1976 royalty legislation, which revised the copyright protection period to 75 years. Mickey Mouse's copyright protection period was successfully "extended" until 2003.
In 1998, Disney used the same method to get the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act signed into law in the United States. This bill will "extend" Mickey Mouse's life until 2023, so it is also nicknamed the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act." At this point, the total copyright term of Mickey Mouse is 95 years. Disney's two attempts to promote copyright protection legislation also triggered the "Economists' Battle of the Mickey Mouse Protection Act" incident. Eric Eldred, one of the founders of Creative Commons, believes that the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act" violates the original intention of copyright law and the U.S. Constitution to "promote the progress of science and useful arts."
Some experts also believe that the establishment of copyright law can stimulate the enthusiasm of creators and promote the prosperity of the cultural market, but works cannot be monopolized forever.
“Free” works also have usage boundaries
When the copyright of a work of art expires, it becomes the public property of all mankind. At the beginning of every year, a large number of books and audio-visual works gain "freedom" and escape from copyright protection and enter the public domain. All creators can re-create these works without paying any fees.
Disney is a well-known “secondary startup”. In its dreamy and magnificent fairy tale world, many images come from classics, fairy tales and ancient legends around the world. For example, Disney adapted stories such as "Beauty and the Beast", "Snow White" and "Cinderella" into movies, turning flowing words into magnificent pictures. Disney has also become the greatest "dream machine" of the 20th century.
Copyright specifically encompasses a variety of rights. The right to authorize, modify, and protect the integrity of the work have permanent protection time limits. But when it comes to the right of modification, Li Chen, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China, believes: "The effectiveness of the right of modification does not lie in 'prohibiting others from illegally modifying the work', but is embodied in 'the author's right not to be hindered in his modifications'."
Although anyone can use, disseminate and share works free of charge after the copyright protection period expires, the usage scenarios of the works are still one of the considerations of "whether it constitutes infringement." Take the first version of Mickey Mouse as an example. Anyone can adapt or create a second version of Mickey Mouse, but they cannot let the public think it is related to Disney, and they cannot mislead readers into thinking that the Mickey Mouse they created is the original version. For example, if the image of Mickey Mouse is used as the logo of a stationery product, it may infringe Disney's trademark rights.
You Yunting, a lawyer at Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, said: "Even if the work enters the public domain, if Mickey Mouse is used in some vulgar works or has other negative connotations, the heirs of the author of Mickey Mouse can still defend their rights."
Secondary creative works should be treated in categories
At present, paying attention to copyright protection has become a social consensus. But some people think that over-protection may have negative effects. In the all-media era, the Internet promotes cultural prosperity. At the same time, a large number of secondary creations and adaptations of cultural works have also appeared on the Internet. On the Internet platform, the popularity of short video editing, film and television hybrid editing... second works and adapted works has brought about a series of discussions. Some people believe that copyright-free adaptations and secondary creations will harm the interests of original authors; others believe that excessive copyright protection will have a certain impact on the innovation environment.
The "long video counterattack" in 2021 is the copyright owner's resistance to copyright infringement by medium and short video platforms. "The crackdown on such short video accounts mainly involves the game between platforms. The editing of short and medium videos in film and television has squeezed out users' time on long video platforms. Users spend a lot of time watching short and medium videos and purchase copyrights. Instead, the long video platform has become a supporting role." You Yunting said.
So, how to protect copyright? In the face of secondary creation, how to define infringement?
Wu Fang, associate professor at the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and director of the Digital Platform and Culture Research Center, believes that secondary creation should be viewed in categories. The secondary creation of IP fans based on plots and programs is essentially different from the infringement of making money by intercepting and moving videos. Producers' claims to copyright should be carefully limited to creation and consumption at the collective level of the audience.
Copyright protection is always on the way
Copyright protection is conducive to stimulating innovation vitality. Our country has long noticed the importance of copyright protection. In the Song Dynasty, the government had regulations: if someone reprinted a published book, it would be "cracked up after the original copy, and the crime would be punished." These methods not only demonstrated the respect and protection of knowledge and labor in society at that time, but also played an important role in promoting the prosperity and order of Song culture.
At present, my country's copyright-related legal system has been revised and improved, forming a copyright legal system with copyright law as the core and administrative regulations, local regulations, etc. as components. In the Internet era, the continuous emergence of digital works has put forward new requirements for relevant departments to strengthen Internet protection.
Relevant departments have been taking action: the "Jianwang Special Action" started in 2005 has severely cracked down on online infringements; the case of Tan Moumou in Tianjin operating a pirated online literature app in 2022 marked my country's strong move against pirated literature; in recent years, there have been successive Special governance actions such as the Youth Copyright Protection Season Concentrated Action and the Winter Olympics Copyright Protection Concentrated Action have made efforts to protect copyright.
"Legal protection is strong and originality is more dynamic. my country's current Copyright Law actively responds to technological development and introduces more flexible and flexible fair use rules. While strengthening protection and encouraging innovation, it takes into account the users of works and the society at large. The interests of the public provide institutional guarantee for the prosperity of social and cultural development." said Guan Yuying, director of the Intellectual Property Office of the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.