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mostlysignssomeportents · 4 months

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It all started with a mouse

For the public domain, time stopped in 1998, when the Sonny Bono Copyright Act froze copyright expirations for 20 years. In 2019, time started again, with a massive crop of works from 1923 returning to the public domain, free for all to use and adapt:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2019/

No one is better at conveying the power of the public domain than Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle, who run the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain. For years leading up to 2019, the pair published an annual roundup of what we would have gotten from the public domain in a universe where the 1998 Act never passed. Since 2019, they've switched to celebrating what we're actually getting each year. Last year's was a banger:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/20/free-for-2023/#oy-canada

But while there's been moderate excitement at the publicdomainification of "Yes, We Have No Bananas," AA Milne's "Now We Are Six," and Sherlock Holmes, the main event that everyone's anticipated arrives on January 1, 2024, when Mickey Mouse enters the public domain.

The first appearance of Mickey Mouse was in 1928's Steamboat Willie. Disney was critical to the lobbying efforts that extended copyright in 1976 and again in 1998, so much so that the 1998 Act is sometimes called the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. Disney and its allies were so effective at securing these regulatory gifts that many people doubted that this day would ever come. Surely Disney would secure another retrospective copyright term extension before Jan 1, 2024. I had long arguments with comrades about this – people like Project Gutenberg founder Michael S Hart (RIP) were fatalistically certain the public domain would never come back.

But they were wrong. The public outrage over copyright term extensions came too late to stave off the slow-motion arson of the 1976 and 1998 Acts, but it was sufficient to keep a third extension away from the USA. Canada wasn't so lucky: Justin Trudeau let Trump bully him into taking 20 years' worth of works out of Canada's public domain in the revised NAFTA agreement, making swathes of works by living Canadian authors illegal at the stroke of a pen, in a gift to the distant descendants of long-dead foreign authors.

Now, with Mickey's liberation bare days away, there's a mounting sense of excitement and unease. Will Mickey actually be free? The answer is a resounding YES! (albeit with a few caveats). In a prelude to this year's public domain roundup, Jennifer Jenkins has published a full and delightful guide to The Mouse and IP from Jan 1 on:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/mickey/

Disney loves the public domain. Its best-loved works, from The Sorcerer's Apprentice to Sleeping Beauty, Pinnocchio to The Little Mermaid, are gorgeous, thoughtful, and lively reworkings of material from the public domain. Disney loves the public domain – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's other flexibilities, too, like fair use. Walt told the papers that he took his inspiration for Steamboat Willie from Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, making fair use of their performances to imbue Mickey with his mischief and derring do. Disney loves fair use – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's limitations. Steamboat Willie was inspired by Buster Keaton's silent film Steamboat Bill (titles aren't copyrightable). Disney loves copyright's limitations – we just wish it would share.

As Jenkins writes, Disney's relationship to copyright is wildly contradictory. It's the poster child for the public domain's power as a source of inspiration for worthy (and profitable) new works. It's also the chief villain in the impoverishment and near-extinction of the public domain. Truly, every pirate wants to be an admiral.

Disney's reliance on – and sabotage of – the public domain is ironic. Jenkins compares it to "an oil company relying on solar power to run its rigs." Come January 1, Disney will have to share.

Now, if you've heard anything about this, you've probably been told that Mickey isn't really entering the public domain. Between trademark claims and later copyrightable elements of Mickey's design, Mickey's status will be too complex to understand. That's totally wrong.

Jenkins illustrates the relationship between these three elements in (what else) a Mickey-shaped Venn diagram. Topline: you can use all the elements of Mickey that are present in Steamboat Willie, along with some elements that were added later, provided that you make it clear that your work isn't affiliated with Disney.

Let's unpack that. The copyrightable status of a character used to be vague and complex, but several high-profile cases have brought clarity to the question. The big one is Les Klinger's case against the Arthur Conan Doyle estate over Sherlock Holmes. That case established that when a character appears in both public domain and copyrighted works, the character is in the public domain, and you are "free to copy story elements from the public domain works":

https://freesherlock.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/klinger-order-on-motion-for-summary-judgment-c.pdf

This case was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, who declined to hear it. It's settled law.

So, which parts of Mickey aren't going into the public domain? Elements that came later: white gloves, color. But that doesn't mean you can't add different gloves, or different colorways. The idea of a eyes with pupils is not copyrightable – only the specific eyes that Disney added.

Other later elements that don't qualify for copyright: a squeaky mouse voice, being adorable, doing jaunty dances, etc. These are all generic characteristics of cartoon mice, and they're free for you to use. Jenkins is more cautious on whether you can give your Mickey red shorts. She judges that "a single, bright, primary color for an article of clothing does not meet the copyrightability threshold" but without settled law, you might wanna change the colors.

But what about trademark? For years, Disney has included a clip from Steamboat Willie at the start of each of its films. Many observers characterized this as a bid to create a de facto perpetual copyright, by making Steamboat Willie inescapably associated with products from Disney, weaving an impassable web of trademark tripwires around it.

But trademark doesn't prevent you from using Steamboat Willie. It only prevents you from misleading consumers "into thinking your work is produced or sponsored by Disney." Trademarks don't expire so long as they're in use, but uses that don't create confusion are fair game under trademark.

Copyrights and trademarks can overlap. Mickey Mouse is a copyrighted character, but he's also an indicator that a product or service is associated with Disney. While Mickey's copyright expires in a couple weeks, his trademark doesn't. What happens to an out-of-copyright work that is still a trademark?

Luckily for us, this is also a thoroughly settled case. As in, this question was resolved in a unanimous 2000 Supreme Court ruling, Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox. A live trademark does not extend an expired copyright. As the Supremes said:

[This would] create a species of mutant copyright law that limits the public’s federal right to copy and to use expired copyrights.

This elaborates on the Ninth Circuit's 1996 Maljack Prods v Goodtimes Home Video Corp:

[Trademark][ cannot be used to circumvent copyright law. If material covered by copyright law has passed into the public domain, it cannot then be protected by the Lanham Act without rendering the Copyright Act a nullity.

Despite what you might have heard, there is no ambiguity here. Copyrights can't be extended through trademark. Period. Unanimous Supreme Court Decision. Boom. End of story. Done.

But even so, there are trademark considerations in how you use Steamboat Willie after Jan 1, but these considerations are about protecting the public, not Disney shareholders. Your uses can't be misleading. People who buy or view your Steamboat Willie media or products have to be totally clear that your work comes from you, not Disney.

Avoiding confusion will be very hard for some uses, like plush toys, or short idents at the beginning of feature films. For most uses, though, a prominent disclaimer will suffice. The copyright page for my 2003 debut novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom contains this disclaimer:

This novel is a work of fiction, set in an imagined future. All the characters and events portrayed in this book, including the imagined future of the Magic Kingdom, are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. The Walt Disney Company has not authorized or endorsed this novel.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250196385/downandoutinthemagickingdom

Here's the Ninth Circuit again:

When a public domain work is copied, along with its title, there is little likelihood of confusion when even the most minimal steps are taken to distinguish the publisher of the original from that of the copy. The public is receiving just what it believes it is receiving—the work with which the title has become associated. The public is not only unharmed, it is unconfused.

Trademark has many exceptions. The First Amendment protects your right to use trademarks in expressive ways, for example, to recreate famous paintings with Barbie dolls:

https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/mattel-walkingmountain-9thcir2003.pdf

And then there's "nominative use": it's not a trademark violation to use a trademark to accurately describe a trademarked thing. "We fix iPhones" is not a trademark violation. Neither is 'Works with HP printers.' This goes double for "expressive" uses of trademarks in new works of art:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_v._Grimaldi

What about "dilution"? Trademark protects a small number of superbrands from uses that "impair the distinctiveness or harm the reputation of the famous mark, even when there is no consumer confusion." Jenkins says that the Mickey silhouette and the current Mickey character designs might be entitled to protection from dilution, but Steamboat Willie doesn't make the cut.

Jenkins closes with a celebration of the public domain's ability to inspire new works, like Disney's Three Musketeers, Disney's Christmas Carol, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Disney's Around the World in 80 Days, Disney's Alice in Wonderland, Disney's Snow White, Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Disney's Cinderella, Disney's Little Mermaid, Disney's Pinocchio, Disney's Huck Finn, Disney's Robin Hood, and Disney's Aladdin. These are some of the best-loved films of the past century, and made Disney a leading example of what talented, creative people can do with the public domain.

As of January 1, Disney will start to be an example of what talented, creative people give back to the public domain, joining Dickens, Dumas, Carroll, Verne, de Villeneuve, the Brothers Grimm, Twain, Hugo, Perrault and Collodi.

Public domain day is 17 days away. Creators of all kinds: start your engines!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/15/mouse-liberation-front/#free-mickey

Image: Doo Lee (modified) https://web.law.duke.edu/sites/default/files/images/centers/cspd/pdd2024/mickey/Steamboat-WIllie-Enters-Public-Domain.jpeg

CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #copyfight #scotus #mickey mouse #public domain #ip #contract #trademark #tm #jennifer jenkins #copyright #disney #nominative use

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dynamobooks · 1 year

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Keith Aoki, James Boyle & Jennifer Jenkins: Bound by Law? (2006/2008)

#copyright #dokumentary #filmmaking #fair use #intellectual property #law #james boyle #jennifer jenkins #keith aoki #comics #cory doctorow #davis guggenheim

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joe-england · 2 years

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Florida Teachers Afraid, Confused As DeSantis Politicizes Curriculum

#youtube #florida #teachers #stop woke act #desantis #education #conservatives #republicans #msnbc #alex wagner #don falls #jennifer jenkins #culture war

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annie-isnt-0k · 1 year

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the 'karma' girls

“I’m not sure I’m the good girl I once thought I was. I’ve lost her along the way.”

“You know me, Maxine. I always land on my feet.”

“Don't ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box. Don't do that.”

#Spotify #avery grambs #the inheritance games #the hawthorne legacy #the final gambit #jennifer lynn barnes #pippa fitz amobi #a good girls guide to murder #agggtm #holly jackson #evelyn hugo #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #taylor jenkins reid #karma #midnights #taylor swift

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positivexcellence · 9 months

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Birthday Wishes for Jared

#jared padalecki #ruth connell #briana buckmaster #shoshannah stern #richard speight jr #dj castillo #ricky whittle #felicia day #matt barr #charlie capen #bri jenkins #nicole tubiola #jennifer birn #kelly mickle #billy mercer

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hellishunicorn · 1 year

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Incorrect OFMD, part 15

#ofmd #our flag means death #incorrect our flag means death #incorrect quotes #Izzy hands #con o'neill #stede bonnet #rhys darby #lucius spriggs #nathan foad #david jenkins #source:#a cinderella story #jennifer coolidge

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petrareads · 1 year

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I bought too many books recently that I really don’t know what to read next. I’m thinking about reading Dune (not pictured here lol) but I’m reluctant to start a series, especially one that’s so big

#i might read a theif on a winged horse next #which is also not pictured here hahah #I’m waiting to read Evelyn Hugo with my friend for book club #and then iron widow and scythe are series and ahdjemsla #and elektra idk how invested I am in reading it hahah it was just $2.5 so of course I bought it #petrareads #petraphotographs #booklr #books #reading #read #bookworm #book photos #scythe #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #taylor jenkins reid #iron widow #elektra #Jennifer Saint

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just-a-girl-who-likes-sharks · 26 days

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March 2024 books 💚

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millylouedward · 5 months

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The Very Best Books of 2023

I read 52 books in 2023, and that basically means I can do anything with a strong enough will.

I told myself if I couldn't complete my Goodreads reading challenge this year, I would never amount to anything in life. I would grow old and die and I would not ever be able to say I accomplished anything, because if I couldn't meet this one goal, I would never meet any.

The good news is, I read all 52 books and finished with a month to spare. As it turns out, I am not worthless nor incapable of accomplishment. Yay!

The bad news is, I read a lot of really good books this year. In fact, 61% of the books I read I rated 4 stars or higher. We're going to have to get really serious right now if I'm going to pick only 5 of those 32 Really Good Books.

Here are some of my criteria for Very Best Book of the year:

I remember the story (I'm very forgetful so this is important)

I had a strong emotional reaction to the story

The writing was strong, vibrant, and interesting

The story kept me constantly hooked

Alright, now that that's decided, let's get into it.

5. We Do What We Do In The Dark (Michelle Hart)

This book had me so messed up after I read it. It's like the depressed queer woman anthem. I'm not a big fan of mental health literature like My Year of Rest and Relaxation or The Bell Jar, but I think the addition of another intriguing character who both feeds into the main character Mallory's issues and heals them at the same time created a sense of intrigue for me. We Do What We Do in the Dark is full of beautiful, alluring prose that makes my little literary heart sing and balances out the weight of the obsession Mallory builds for the professor as she fights her own loneliness.

This story stuck with me, really. The relationship between the professor and Mallory is complicated and problematic yet meaningful and sensual and artistic. And don't get me started on the cover. I'm a sucker for paintings as covers for books, and the cover designed by Jaya Miceli is fantastic.

The reason why I leave at the bottom of my top books is that I didn't have a strong emotional reaction to the story. I loved it, I thought it was poignant and profound, I thought about it for months after reading it. But it just didn't quite draw out of me anything deeper than those feelings. And that's okay. This is not a book that is meant to make your eyes go wide and your jaw drop. It's meant to make the reader curious in the best way.

4. Atalanta (Jennifer Saint)

You say Greek myth feminist retelling, I say, SAY LESS.

Atalanta is a powerful retelling of the only woman of the Argonauts on their journey to retrieve the golden fleece. After being raised by bears and adopted by Artemis (goals) she is thrown into a world she's never known when the goddess asks her to join the quest in her name. Our girl Atalanta has to fight vicious creatures both human and non, survive extreme conditions, and make it back to Artemis without breaking her vow of chastity.

I found Atalanta to be heartbreaking and magical at the same time. I was frightened by the horrors she faces yet constantly curious about what the fate of her life with Artemis would be. The writing is beautiful and dynamic. Every character is fully fleshed out and presented flawlessly. I'm pretty sure I cried at the end.

I put this one at number 4 because the first chapter was hella boring. Like, borderline DNF boring. It's not the author's fault, nor is it mine. It's full of exposition that you need in order to understand everything else that's about to happen. I struggled to get through it. But starting right at the beginning of chapter 2, it became increasingly better.

3. In The Dream House (Carmen Maria Machado)

I went into In The Dream House expecting a fictional thriller. I didn't read the blurb. And I was pleasantly surprised when I was wrong.

This memoir is powerful, absurd, inventive. Once I started it I couldn't put it down. The nameless antagonist fills the reader with dread and fear every time they enter the page. It begs questions about the woman in the dream house's intentions and fears. Who is she, really? What brought her to become the monster under the bed in the author's life?

I absolutely loved the structure of the memoir. It's creative and thoughtful. It feels as if the author is dissecting her story to understand it better, putting it under different lenses in hopes that something microscopic will be revealed and explain all the pain she's been through.

This memoir is so profound to me. If I could forget it all and read it for the first time again, I would do so in a heartbeat.

2. The Hike (Drew Magary)

"Every moment I become more confused and concerned" -Milly, at 61.15% into The Hike

I know what you're thinking. Milly, how could you let a male author on your list of the very best books? You probably aren't really thinking that. But I am. How could I? I am a devoted women's lit reader. I love the way women write way more than men. I crave the emotion and the depth that is often lacking in male-written novels. I'm sorry but it's true.

That changed when I read The Hike. Nothing about this story is predictable or sensical. It is wild and painful and scary and funny and absurd. I can only describe it as a blend of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, The Good Place, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I'm still thinking about how shocked I was at the ending. I can't even begin to explain (pun intended).

The narrative follows a man who goes out for a short hike and ends up on a years long journey as he tries to get back to his family. It sounds very yawn, I know. But his journey is full of odd creatures that don't make sense, like a talking sea creature and a cannibalistic giant and dog-faced bad guys. All the while, he is trying to make his way to the "Producer," the only person who can release him from the path and return him to his family.

The Hike is easily one of the best books I've ever read.

1. Carrie Soto is Back (Taylor Jenkins Reid)

I picked up this book because of the cover. Who is Carrie Soto? What is she coming back from? With her head tilted towards a golden glow, bathing her in the color, the reader can imagine that this is a story about a woman with serious power (cue Money, Power, Glory by Lana Del Rey).

And the reader would be right. Carrie Soto is the bet tennis player in the world, until her body begins to slow her down and she is forced to retire. Then, when a young tennis star puts Carrie at risk of losing everything she worked for, she returns to the game to defend her title one last time.

Can I just say, I love good boss bitch main character. I love the women who just don't give a fuck, who are not here to put up with anyone's shit, who want to win and say fuck you all and go home. Carrie Soto is my woman.

Taylor Jenkins Reid delivered a riveting, edge of your seat story in Carrie Soto is Back, and does so with a fantastic writing style. The narrative jumps back and forth between Carrie Soto growing up as a young tennis player to her as an adult in the 90s preparing to face off against Nicki Chan.

What I love so much about this book is that it makes the reader question why we treat women in the public eye the way we do. It asks the reader to consider what we really want when we want fame and money and success. What does any of it mean when we have no one?

You can imagine how sad I was when I realized I'd just finished the best book of this year in MARCH. I sat there on my couch thinking there is absolutely no way I will find a book that makes me feel the way Carrie Soto is Back did. Ugh. If y'all have recommendations. Send them my way for 2024.

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geekynerfherder · 8 months

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Haven Gallery presents 'The Pre-Raphaelites', a group art exhibition encoring artists to pursue a historical investigation of the styles, artists and themes of this period.

Selected art by Arkadiusz Dzielawski, Jennifer Hrabota-Lesser, Julia Jenkins, Kseniia Boko, Annie Stegg Gerard and Linda Delahaye.

The exhibition is on display until September 24 2023 at Haven Gallery, 90 Main St, Northport, NY 11768, open to the public for viewing the art safely with social distancing and masks required, and on the Haven Gallery website.

#Art #Haven Gallery #Arkadiusz Dzielawski #Jennifer Hrabota Lesser #Julia Jenkins #Kseniia Boko #Annie Stegg Gerard #Linda Delahaye #Exhibition #Art Show #Gallery Show #Original Art #New Contemporary Art #Pre Raphaelite #No AI #No NFT #Female #Feminine #Imagiantive Realism

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allaboutjmo · 2 years

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📸 Jen at Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program Luncheon, in New York on September 20, 2022

#jennifer morrison #jmo #tribeca #chanel #patty jenkins #women in film #female director #female directors #female filmmaker

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dynamobooks · 1 year

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James Boyle, Jennifer Jenkins, Ian Akin & Brian Garvey: Theft! A History of Music (2017)

#copyright #public domain #history of music #sampling #legal and legislative #james boyle #jennifer jenkins #brian garvey #ian akin #music remix #chuck berry #robert johnson #blurred lines #public enemy

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slaughter-books · 1 year

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Day 22: JOMPBPC: Books And Socks

Four beautiful books and some soft, grinchy christmas socks! ❤️

#justonemorepage #jompbpc #books and socks #invisible boys #holden sheppard #i'll keep you close #jeska verstegen #take me with you when you go #david levithan #jennifer niven #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #taylor jenkins reid #beautiful books #amazing authors #lgbt+#christmas socks #i love books

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thedyslexicbibliophile · 1 year

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30/50 of my 2022 reads

#M.K England #Lily Chu #Avery McDougall #Gigi Griffis #Stefanie Briar #Katherine Webber #Colleen Hoover #Jazz Frost #V.E Schwab #Beth O'Leary #Lynette Noni #Jennifer Lynn Barnes #Suzanne Collins #Avery Flynn #Jenny Han #R.F Kuang #Nessa Sunar #Anni Taylor #Taylor Jenkins Reid

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thelonelystarbuckslovers · 1 year

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Eat Pray Love (2010)

"Maybe you're a woman in search of a word."

#eat pray love #ryan murphy #jennifer salt #elizabeth gilbert #julia roberts #javier bardem #richard jenkins #viola davis

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adamwatchesmovies · 2 years

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Eat Pray Love (2010)

There’s nothing to be learned from Eat Pray Love. It contains no inspiring thoughts either. Should you embark on this shallow pilgrimage, you'll see all of your goodwill towards Julia Roberts vanish and be left either bored, indifferent, or angry. Probably a little bit hungry too.

After realizing she and her husband want different things in life, Elizabeth Gilbert (Roberts) files for divorce and decides to take a year to discover herself. Traveling to Italy to learn to relax (Eat), to India to awaken herself spiritually (Pray) and to Bali to find balance and love (Love), she hopes to find the answers so many of us are looking for.

There's an audience for this film – and I hate them. Eat Pray Love is about a woman who decides out of the blue to go on a spiritual quest, the kind no one reading this review could ever even dream of. Elizabeth lives in a fantasy world where adults don’t need to work and actions don’t have consequences. It's "White People Problems" the movie.

As Elizabeth travels from place to place, she instantly makes friends with everyone (if it weren’t based on a true story, I’d swear this was someone’s fan fiction) and moves from one superficial relationship to another, “growing” and becoming “enlightened” with each stereotype she encounters. Our protagonist doesn’t learn anything you couldn’t pick up from the back cover of any self-help book. Check it out! In Italy (where she meets a man whose last name is “Spaghetti”), the pasta is better than in America! Woah! Isn’t your mind blown? What if I told you spending a day scrubbing the floor in India might offer you a new perspective on life? Do you feel illuminated yet? Most infuriating is the final segment of Elizabeth’s journey, the one where she finds love in Bali. By the time Javier Bardem's character arrives, your patience has long run out. You’re just begging for the film to end. Instead, we have to go through the typical meet-cute, courting, breakup and reconciliation. This movie is like four movies crammed together so there’s no time to explore anything in-depth.

Eat Pray Love looks splendid. The plates of food Elizabeth consumes will have your mouth watering. That’s not enough. As charming as Julia Roberts may be, sitting down for 2-1/2 hours (if you’re watching the director’s cut) and watching her take a paid vacation is hardly entertaining, not when she plays a shallow, vapid, self-entitled, whishy-washy whiner. At one point this woman who’s been living it up and partying for nearly a year encounters a divorcee who is struggling to make ends meet. What does Elizabeth do? She sends letters to all her friends asking them to donate money so Christine can buy a house. I couldn't hold myself back. “Why don’t YOU buy her a house?! You must be well off if you can take a year out of your life to do nothing but eat pasta and make friends!”

There’s nothing inspirational about Eat Pray Love because none of the characters’ actions have any weight and the story is as profound as a thimble. There’s no significant difference between the spiritual elements of this depiction of India and of Indonesia. A find-replace could’ve easily turned Italy into Greece, France, or any other place whose inhabitants don't speak English. The film is too well made for me to give it a rating lower than 1, but I wish I could. I hated Eat Pray Love. (Director’s Cut on DVD, December 1, 2017)

#Eat Pray Love #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #ryan murphy #jennifer salt #elizabeth gilbert #julia roberts #james dranco #richard jenkins #viola davi #billy crudup #javier bardem #2010 movies #2010 films

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