On January 1st, 2024, after 96 years, the 1928 Disney cartoon, "Steamboat Willie" finally entered the Public Domain. While the rest of Equestria is busy celebrating the New Year, William "Willy" Brown, a local Human living in Ponyville, decided to celebrate this groundbreaking event by dressing up as "Steamboat Willie", and sailing his steamboat up and down the Applish River next to Ponyville, blowing its whistles, and reenacting the cartoon as best a single Human (and his pet cat Mickey) can. needless to say, the Ponies aren't the most impressed by his late-night antics
(Featured on 1/9/24?? Yay
Chapters (1)
11794669
Hello Skyblazer9,
And I'm glad that this story gave you a good laugh
11794683
Hello back to you too. :)
Thanks.
11794688
You're welcome. And is it just me, or does it say that this story has 0 views? If it's not just me, is that because the story's brand-new? I haven't seen a story not have any views, despite being given Likes, and having been read
Edit: Never mind. I guess after an hour or so, the views appear
I don't think Disney can enforced their legal stuffs in anotherworld if they can't even stop bootleg toys and pirated movies sites in ours.
Anyway, waiting for that steamboat willy horror movie:)
11794763
Hello hmad43,
And they still try. They hit a few creators with copyright violations over using "Steamboat Willie" in their works after it became Public Domain, which is what I referenced with this joke
And which one, there's 2? "Mickey's Mousetrap", and one other that doesn't have a title yet, but's going to involve Mickey (as Steamboat Willie) stalking passengers on a NYC Ferry. ("Mickey's Mousetrap is going to be a disaster. I watched the trailer, and it made "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" look good by comparison)
11794780
Because those creators sold their stuffs on big social media sites that enforce western laws.
Chinese ecommerce sell unlicensed disney mercs. It's near impossible to find real stuffs(toys watches, clothes,) in southeast asia/india flea markets.
The goverments of non-developed countries still used pirated window with cracked adobe suit.
If Equestrian goverment is smart. Then they will loosely enforce those laws until they become a developed country(post industrialized, big economy, military industrial complex) like UK, US, and currently China.
11794810
That, or the bots that enforce Copyrights haven't been updated yet. And not just Disney merch, China has unlicensed copies of just about everything, from every brand, and always for a much lower price than the real stuff too. The website AliExpress.com is pretty much an international market to sell unlicensed Chinese knockoffs of everything, and at a fraction of the price
great story mate keep it up cant wait for the next story i like to think that Walt Disney is the grandfather of Kingdom Hearts
11794829
Hello Shining Paladin,
And thanks. I'm glad that you liked the story
And I still find it amazing that Walt Disney got his start in downtown Kansas City, my hometown. However, this video forgot one important part. Walt Disney was scared of mice, but the building in Kansas City where he and Ub worked was full of them. However, one little mouse was different. It seemed almost friendly, and Walt slowly overcame his fear, and fed the little mouse crumbs from his desk. And it was this little mouse that gave Walt the idea for Mickey Mouse. That's how he got the idea, and then Ub brought him to life in animation for "Steamboat Willie"
This is great! STRAIGHT TO ME FAVORITES!!!
11794925
Hello Ellery Quinn,
And I'm glad you liked the story
As a person who kept bragging to my co-workers about this, I think my behavior resembled Willy's too much.
I can't wait for MLP to enter the public domain in...(looks up copyright)
70 years after the death of the author? FOR WORKS CREATED AFTER 1978?! Will any of us be alive when the copyright expires?
11795204
Hello redandready45,
And I seriously doubt it. Assuming that, for whatever reason, Lauren Faust died this year, 78 years from now, I'd be 104 years old; far too old and senile to create anything with MLP. But, since Lauren Faust is still alive and well, each year she stays alive, that 78 year counter resets itself. So no, I highly doubt that any of us will be alive to see MLP FIM enter the Public Domain. However, we might live long enough to see Gen 1 MLP enter the Public Domain, as that came out in the early 80's, over 40 years ago now
11795237
Ehh...
I hope that as more stuff enters the public domain and the benefits of the public domain become more apparent, it might encourage Congress to roll back the length of copyright or encourage authors to willingly allow their works to go free.
A couple of Republicans have made policy proposals about reducing copyright, but maybe I am getting my hopes up.
11795204
The life plus 70 years is for individual authors and such. Since mlp is a work for hire it’s 95 years from publication date.
11795330
So are corporate works still covered under the 95 year rule, even after 1978?
11795331
That’s what I understood. 120 years for UNpublished works and 95 for published.
11795339
So would Transformers, which first premiered in 1984, enter the public domain in 2080?
11795331
Generally speaking in the us most corporations have an agreement with artists stating that the corporation is the copyright holder and not the individual artist. That changes only if the artist in question is an independent contractor and not an employee but then it becomes a job for an actual lawyer.
11795341
Oh yes I believe so.
11795239
They need to roll it back to what it was originally; 56 years after publication, with the potential for 1 extension if the circumstances are right
11795370
No, before 1976, it was 28 years, plus another 28 if you apply for renewal.
A series of articles by Jennifer Jenkins of Duke University points out damaging these copyright laws were: stuff from the 1960s, and unrenewed copyrights from the late 1980s could've entered the public domain.
But can you pass a law that retroactively brings that stuff into copyright? Or would trying to return works from the 1930s and the 1960s result in a legal dispute over property rights?
11795373
Oh. When "Steamboat Willie" was becoming Public Domain, I saw a few different YouTube videos on Copyright Law, and Public Domain, and I could have sworn that originally, copyrights were good for 56 years before the work would enter Public Domain, but I guess that that was assuming it was granted the extra 28-year extension.
And these are very good questions. Honestly though, I have no idea, as I'm not a lawyer
hehe public domain for the win :)
11795500
Hello 6-D Pegasus,
And yeah, you're right