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图源美联社
|米奇和米妮进入公共领域|
2024 年 1 月 1 日不仅仅是新的一年的开始。米奇和米妮也进入到了公共领域。
到那一天，迪士尼对 1928 年播出的《威利号汽船》中米奇和米妮的独家版权将到期，之后所有人都可以自由使用这两个形象。这标志着这两只小老鼠有史以来第一次可以被大众使用，对于那些必须停止相关创作以防被迪士尼起诉的人来说，这绝对是一场胜利。
Come that date, Disney’s exclusive copyright on the two iconic characters’ Steamboat Willie incarnations from 1928 will have run out, after which anyone can do anything they want with them.This marks the first time ever that the two mice are available to be used by the general public, and it’s definitely a win for anyone who felt like they had to stop their creative pursuits to avoid getting sued by Disney.
图源美联社
|米老鼠版权为何长达95年？|
图源百度
从米老鼠产生至今，美国国会多次延长版权期限，使迪士尼得以持有 95 年的版权。
U.S. law allows a copyright to be held for 95 years after Congress expanded it several times during Mickey’s life.
起初，诞生于 1928 年《威利号汽船》中的米奇和米妮在 55 年之后，计划于 1984 年进入公共领域。但在 1976 年，国会出台了《1976 年版权法》，将当时即将进入公共领域的所有版权都延长了 20 年。后来，在迪士尼和其他公司的游说下，《版权期限延长法案》于 1998 年出台，使版权的有效期又延长了 20 年。
At first, this Mickey and Minnie were set to enter the public domain back in 1984 after what was already a sizable 55-year run. But in 1976, Congress’ 1976 Copyright Act gave a 20-year extension to all copyrights that were approaching public domain back then. After lobbying from Disney and other companies, the “Sonny Bono Copyright Act” was formed in 1998, making it so that copyrights’ lives were extended another 20 years.
“《版权期限延长法案》有时被戏称为《米老鼠保护法》。”法学教授、杜克大学公共领域研究中心主任詹金斯说。
“It’s sometimes derisively referred to as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act,” said Jenkins，a professor of law and director of Duke’s Center for the Study of Public Domain.
“那是把问题简单化了，因为不只是迪士尼在推动版权延长期限，这背后是一群版权所有者，他们的作品很快就将进入公共领域，他们从 20 年的额外保护中获益匪浅。”
“That’s oversimplified because it wasn’t just Disney that was pushing for term extension. It was a whole group of copyright holders whose works were set to go into the public domain soon, who benefited greatly from the 20 years of extra protection.”
|米老鼠使用仍有限制|
在给美联社的一份声明中，迪士尼强调，现在只有《威利号汽船》中的米奇和米妮的形象属于公共领域。根据声明，更为观众熟悉的米奇“将继续作为华特迪士尼公司的全球形象大使发挥主导作用”。当然，迪士尼也借此机会重申，它将“继续保护我们对更现代版本的米老鼠和其他仍受版权保护的作品的权利。”
In a statement to the AP, Disney stressed that it’s only the Steamboat versions of Mickey and Minnie that are in the public domain now. The Mickey that audiences are more familiar with “will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for the Walt Disney Company,” according to the statement. Naturally, Disney also took the moment to reaffirm that it’ll “continue to protect our rights in the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright.”
威利号汽船中的米老鼠形象
迪士尼仍然牢牢地持有米奇这个商标，将其作为公司吉祥物和品牌标识，而且法律禁止他人使用米奇冒充迪士尼来欺骗消费者。同时，任何创办电影公司或主题公园的人都不能随意把米老鼠耳朵作为他们的 logo。
Disney still solidly and separately holds a trademark on Mickey as a corporate mascot and brand identifier, and the law forbids using the character deceptively to fool consumers. Anyone starting a film company or a theme park will not be free to make mouse ears their logo.
图源美联社
丹尼尔·梅耶达（Daniel Mayeda）是加州大学洛杉矶分校法学院副主任，也是一位长期的媒体和娱乐律师，他说：“版权到期并非没有限制。”
Daniel Mayeda is the associate director of the Documentary Film Legal Clinic at UCLA School of Law, as well as a longtime media and entertainment lawyer. He said the copyright expiration does not come without limitations.
梅耶达表示："版权是有时限的，但是商标则没有。’’
“Copyrights are time-limited,” Mayeda said. “Trademarks are not.”
译注：《威利号汽船》中的米老鼠作为艺术形象的版权到期了，但是米老鼠作为迪士尼商标的版权没有到期，只要迪士尼一直续期，米老鼠就一直是迪士尼的商标。
“你可以使用米老鼠这个角色，用来创造你自己的米老鼠故事或与这个角色相关的故事。但是，如果某件作品让公众误以为它属于迪士尼，那么从理论上讲，迪士尼可以说你侵犯了商标权。”
“You can use the Mickey Mouse character as it was originally created to create your own Mickey Mouse stories or stories with this character. But if a particular work confuses the public into thinking it is actually affiliated with Disney, then in theory, Disney could say you violated my trademark.”
原文链接：
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeetendrsehdev/2023/12/24/mickey-mouses-big-comeback-in-2024-from-copyright-to-creativity/?sh=3e6c7a9622ba
https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/mickey-mouse-public-domain-disney-copyright-lawsuits-1235844322/
https://apnews.com/video/amusement-parks-durham-hong-kong-jennifer-jenkins-6b7a36a2e9144285ab67590ca0cd3562
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jul/03/mickey-mouse-disney-copyright-expiry
编译 | 徐成波
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