Post 589 - Some Copyright Observations

 Disney and Extending Copyright - Some Recent Examples

A few years ago, there was a vinyl picture-disc release of the soundtrack to Steamboat Willie, a soundtrack originally slated for the public domain in 2028.  However, not this particular performance of that soundtrack - there are some subtle "adjustments" to this recording, notably a clean up from the Powers Cinesound system of the late 1920s.   Anyone trying to use this particular performance could be visited upon by the Disney legal team, a notoriously humorless bunch of litigators.

Sticking to the same film, Disney + has a "tribute" to Mickey among its recent streaming specimens, in his "new" iteration called Steamboat Silly.  In it, the "new" Mickey releases the 1928 black-and-white Mickey while showing a home movie - which is riddled with re-drawn scenes from Steamboat Willie.  So, again, when 2024 arrives, the same legal dream team can sit on the front stoop of anyone making use of the original Mickey, claiming that it is making use of this recent version of the film, which will be under copyright until 2119 (96 years for "published works").

National Museum of American History

 

from Cartoon Research

Silly Symphonies, anyone?  Well, the classic 1929 Skeleton Dance  has already gone through several variations from its 16mm EmGee film license, to VHS, to DVD, before this new streaming version on Disney +.   The original release had a silent opening credit, then it was "modernized" with a faux intro music (that jarred against the actual soundtrack when it kicked in), then with an adjusted frame size to make it "authentic," then back to the silent opening for the Disney + production.  Each soundtrack version  represented a new "performance," with a 100 year long copyright attached.  In addition, the new streaming version of Skeleton Dance has been given a digital cleanup, balancing contrast and flicker, cleaning the soundtrack, and even adjusting a sequence where the original film had the performing skeleton move off register from the background.  Again, each of these versions represents a "new performance," and performances (ie, soundtracks) qualify for the 100 year copyright.  The cleaned up visual version, as "published material," qualifies for 96 years.

This follows the production practice of Disney, from its VHS versions onwards, to not identify the copyright year of the film on the packaging - then it was to obscure the age of the movie ("1938! Eeuh! Old movie! Eeuh!"), but it also turned out effective to obscure when that film would be in the public domain (even with all that care, The Mad Doctor and Minnie's Yoo-Hoo slipped through the cracks) (people lost their jobs over that one, I'm sure).

So, if anyone is chomping at the bit to use these films, it'll be necessary to be certain that the 1928 and 1929 versions, specifically, are the source.  Or, creating a different version, with a documented trail of production of drawing, rendering and artwork, will likely get past the realm of DisneyLaw.  I suggest using a headless chicken, dressed and ready for Sunday dinner, piloting a tugboat.  Have something like that whistle, and theater-goers will pack the aisles!

The ultimate irony of all this is that, had any of these current copyright laws been in place in 1928 or 1929, the musical cues that Walt, Ub, and Carl employed for these groundbreaking films would not have been in the public domain.  

What a whirl'd.