2y ago

Oh boy, goodie!

36 comments

OUR mouse
Show us the hands! Willie, in the public domain, doesn't wear gloves. Mickey, still Disney IP, does wear gloves.
- Mickey is ready for your prostate exam.
  
  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣... got me laughing so hard i woke up my wife in bed 🤣
  
  Yet somehow the Steamboat Willie version seems more likely to give you said exam whether warranted or not
Technically this post is illegal until tomorrow, but I dig that.
- It's tomorrow in some places 😂.
  
  Yeah but the IP was held by an American Company.
  Happy New Year.
  
  Are you from the future?
- Not really. I think it's considered free speech if it's sarcastic or a parody.
  
  Free speech doesn't apply to Intellectual Property at all, or rather you're free to say whatever you want but you can still be sued for anything that you say.
  What you're thinking of is "Fair Use".
  
  Yes, the infamous "sarcastic" exception to copyright.
- Why?
  
  As of 2024, Micky is now public domain, at least the variant from Steamboat Willie.
I've heard an argument that a reason why Disney has pushed Steamboat Willie lately (new intro for Disney Animation films, and a lot of merch) is because copyright law works differently from trademark law. They can still claim a trademark even if the copyrighted work is in public domain. I'm not a lawyer, but if that's not all BS, I don't think we have to worry about anything like this anytime soon.
- I am a lawyer, and that is correct. You can use old Mickey for general purposes, but not as a mark.
- Meeh, it's just a joke. It would be an aimmediate downer for me if I was a fisrt time xfce user.
Let me clarify, only the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse characters are in public domain, not the recent versions as Disney holds the copyright. In a few years, more Mickey Mouse shorts will become public domain.
- Personally, I don't give a shit about whether Mickey Mouse is copyrighted or not. What I care about is all the other works that were kept from entering the public domain because Disney was constantly getting copyright extended.
  
  Hard agree
Love this and now I'm expecting wallpapers for my xfce build.
I get it ... but idk if I want Disney on my mind when thinking about xfce
XFCE is the Mickey Mouse under the desktop environments?
- I hope not...

36 comments