[HN Gopher] Paraguay Loves Mickey, the Cartoon Mouse. Disney Doe...
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Paraguay Loves Mickey, the Cartoon Mouse. Disney Doesn't
Author : howard941
Score : 31 points
Date : 2024-09-15 21:09 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
| muhoweb wrote:
| Mirror: https://archive.is/TmaOu
| kragen wrote:
| you'd think an article nominally about 'intellectual property'
| would mention that mickey mouse is out of copyright now, at least
| in countries that apply the rule of the shorter term
|
| https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/mickey/
| codetrotter wrote:
| But the Mickey Mouse that is out of copyright is specifically
| the one you see in Steamboat Willie from 1928 (and maybe some
| of their other old movies with Mickey, I don't remember what
| other movies Disney made early on around 1928).
|
| Meanwhile the Mickey that is shown posing on top of a building
| in one of the photos looks like a more recent Mickey. (But I'm
| no Mickey expert.)
|
| And it is important to keep that in mind.
| aaronbrethorst wrote:
| Which is why Crooked Media can sell a t-shirt of two
| Steamboat Willies kissing without receiving a cease and
| desist but can't feature a pair of more modern looking
| Mickeys going at it:
| https://store.crooked.com/collections/pride-or-
| else/products...
| kevin_thibedeau wrote:
| It's still a trademark for perpetuity. Copyright expiration on
| specific films doesn't change that. This is why Disney started
| using the pie-eyed mickey more heavily in their marketing 10+
| years ago to reinforce their trademark over that version of the
| character.
| ethbr1 wrote:
| It's in trademark as long as Disney registers and renews the
| trademark in whatever country.
|
| And trademark doesn't protect against any and all use in the
| same way copyright does -- only uses that might create
| consumer confusion with the trademark owner's uses.
|
| Presumably, a company that has been selling grocery staples
| since 1935 with that logo isn't creating much confusion.
|
| Arguably, Paraguayan Mickey has a better claim that modern
| do-everything Disney Mickey is infringing on _its_ long-
| established trademark...
| bongodongobob wrote:
| What is pie-eyed mickey?
| latexr wrote:
| It's the older version where there's no division between
| the sclera (white of eye) and the rest of the skull:
|
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Mickey_-
| _The_...
|
| Compare to later versions, where the eyes are well defined:
|
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f6/Mickey_-
| _Fant...
|
| In recent years, Disney has been using the old version from
| Steamboat Willie at the start of movies:
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboat_Willie
|
| And even making new shorts with that style:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC6qIbU1olyXQe1WOKt8
| U...
| cfraenkel wrote:
| Um, except that the article is about a trademark. Mickey (the
| Paraguayan company) isn't printing comics or producing
| cartoons, so how would copyright apply?
|
| (as your linked article from duke.edu explicitly explains)
| rubyfan wrote:
| Yeah it's a trademark issue, not a copyright issue.
| mig39 wrote:
| They're using Mickey Mouse (or their version of him), as a
| mascot. Doesn't that mean it's about a trademark?
|
| The business in question literally has a mouse, named Mickey,
| that looks a lot like the trademark of Disney, on their
| packaging, their buildings, and their advertisements. They
| are literally using Disney's trademark.
| rubyfan wrote:
| Sounds like Disney failed to protect its mark in Paraguay over
| many decades.
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(page generated 2024-09-15 23:00 UTC)