How Evil Disney abused copyright law, killed public domain and American culture

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Mickey Mouse was brought into the world in 1928, under the 1909 Copyright Act, entitling him to 56 years of protection under the law -- no more. In accordance with the law, his copyright was set to expire in 1984.

As this date drew near, Disney (the corporation) grew increasingly anxious. By this time, Mickey was worth billionsin annual revenue, and had become the face of the company; losing him to the public domain would be a massive financial blow. Quietly, Disney took to Washington and began lobbying Congress for new copyright legislation

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In 1976 -- just 8 years prior to Mickey’s expiration -- Congress completely overhauled U.S. copyright law to conform with European standards. This new law expanded already-published corporate copyrights from 56 years to a maximum of 75 years. All works published prior to 1922 immediately entered the public domain; all works published after 1922  (including Mickey Mouse) were entitled to the full 75 years of protection. Just like that, Mickey Mouse extended his copyright death 19 years -- from 1984 to 2003.

By the mid-1990s, Disney again began to feel the impending doom. In addition to the 2003 expiration of Mickey’s copyright, Pluto was set to expire in 2005, Goofy in 2007, and Donald Duck in 2009. The gang, collectively worth billions, had to be retained, so Disney began lobbying again.

In 1997, Congress introduced the Copyright Term Extension Act, which proposed to extend corporate copyrights again -- this time, from 75 to 95 years. To ensure the bill passed, Disney cozied up to legislators.

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Watchdog records show that the Disney Political Action Committee (PAC) paid out a total of $149,612 in direct campaign contributions to those considering the bill. Of the bill’s 25 sponsors (12 in the Senate, and 13 in the House), 19 received money from Disney’s CEO, Michael Eisner. In one instance, Eisner paid Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) $1,000 on the very same day that he signed on as a co-sponsor.

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"We regard our lobbying as proprietary to us,” Disney spokesman Thomas J. Deegan stated, when confronted by CNN in 1998. “We don't wish to talk about it."

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On October 27, 1998, Mickey Mouse’s copyright was extended another 20 years, to 2023.

In the entire congressional committee, only one man -- Senator Hank Brown -- opposed the bill. "The real incentive [was] for corporate owners that bought copyrights to lobby Congress for another 20 years of revenue,” he later said. "I thought it was a moral outrage. There wasn't anyone speaking out for the public interest."

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