Copyright and Mickey Mouse

Almost of the information I learned today was new. I was very unaware of the seriousness of copyrighting and all the different laws and what having a copyright entails. I was unaware of the Sonny Bono Act. I didn’t realize that this bill added in 1998 was to extend the time of the copyright of a person an extra 20 years to the now 70 years after their death that they still would be the sole proprietor of that copyright. This Mickey Mouse Protection Act has two distinct sides to it. On one hand it seems fair that Walt Disney’s company should be able to hold these rights to the characters forever. On the contrary many argue that it seems unreasonable to keep passing laws for something that someone that has been dead so long company is trying to hold onto and that they should become part of the public domain. I side with those that think Disney should maintain these rights. There are multimillion and billion dollars parks and franchises that run on these distinct and creative characters and I feel as it is unjust to give up these just because the original owner is dead. I believe that the copyright should stay with the company as long as it is in business and that they should still have the sole rights to all the characters.