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mostlysignssomeportents · 11 months ago

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It all started with a mouse

For the public domain, time stopped in 1998, when the Sonny Bono Copyright Act froze copyright expirations for 20 years. In 2019, time started again, with a massive crop of works from 1923 returning to the public domain, free for all to use and adapt:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2019/

No one is better at conveying the power of the public domain than Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle, who run the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain. For years leading up to 2019, the pair published an annual roundup of what we would have gotten from the public domain in a universe where the 1998 Act never passed. Since 2019, they've switched to celebrating what we're actually getting each year. Last year's was a banger:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/20/free-for-2023/#oy-canada

But while there's been moderate excitement at the publicdomainification of "Yes, We Have No Bananas," AA Milne's "Now We Are Six," and Sherlock Holmes, the main event that everyone's anticipated arrives on January 1, 2024, when Mickey Mouse enters the public domain.

The first appearance of Mickey Mouse was in 1928's Steamboat Willie. Disney was critical to the lobbying efforts that extended copyright in 1976 and again in 1998, so much so that the 1998 Act is sometimes called the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. Disney and its allies were so effective at securing these regulatory gifts that many people doubted that this day would ever come. Surely Disney would secure another retrospective copyright term extension before Jan 1, 2024. I had long arguments with comrades about this – people like Project Gutenberg founder Michael S Hart (RIP) were fatalistically certain the public domain would never come back.

But they were wrong. The public outrage over copyright term extensions came too late to stave off the slow-motion arson of the 1976 and 1998 Acts, but it was sufficient to keep a third extension away from the USA. Canada wasn't so lucky: Justin Trudeau let Trump bully him into taking 20 years' worth of works out of Canada's public domain in the revised NAFTA agreement, making swathes of works by living Canadian authors illegal at the stroke of a pen, in a gift to the distant descendants of long-dead foreign authors.

Now, with Mickey's liberation bare days away, there's a mounting sense of excitement and unease. Will Mickey actually be free? The answer is a resounding YES! (albeit with a few caveats). In a prelude to this year's public domain roundup, Jennifer Jenkins has published a full and delightful guide to The Mouse and IP from Jan 1 on:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/mickey/

Disney loves the public domain. Its best-loved works, from The Sorcerer's Apprentice to Sleeping Beauty, Pinnocchio to The Little Mermaid, are gorgeous, thoughtful, and lively reworkings of material from the public domain. Disney loves the public domain – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's other flexibilities, too, like fair use. Walt told the papers that he took his inspiration for Steamboat Willie from Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, making fair use of their performances to imbue Mickey with his mischief and derring do. Disney loves fair use – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's limitations. Steamboat Willie was inspired by Buster Keaton's silent film Steamboat Bill (titles aren't copyrightable). Disney loves copyright's limitations – we just wish it would share.

As Jenkins writes, Disney's relationship to copyright is wildly contradictory. It's the poster child for the public domain's power as a source of inspiration for worthy (and profitable) new works. It's also the chief villain in the impoverishment and near-extinction of the public domain. Truly, every pirate wants to be an admiral.

Disney's reliance on – and sabotage of – the public domain is ironic. Jenkins compares it to "an oil company relying on solar power to run its rigs." Come January 1, Disney will have to share.

Now, if you've heard anything about this, you've probably been told that Mickey isn't really entering the public domain. Between trademark claims and later copyrightable elements of Mickey's design, Mickey's status will be too complex to understand. That's totally wrong.

Jenkins illustrates the relationship between these three elements in (what else) a Mickey-shaped Venn diagram. Topline: you can use all the elements of Mickey that are present in Steamboat Willie, along with some elements that were added later, provided that you make it clear that your work isn't affiliated with Disney.

Let's unpack that. The copyrightable status of a character used to be vague and complex, but several high-profile cases have brought clarity to the question. The big one is Les Klinger's case against the Arthur Conan Doyle estate over Sherlock Holmes. That case established that when a character appears in both public domain and copyrighted works, the character is in the public domain, and you are "free to copy story elements from the public domain works":

https://freesherlock.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/klinger-order-on-motion-for-summary-judgment-c.pdf

This case was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, who declined to hear it. It's settled law.

So, which parts of Mickey aren't going into the public domain? Elements that came later: white gloves, color. But that doesn't mean you can't add different gloves, or different colorways. The idea of a eyes with pupils is not copyrightable – only the specific eyes that Disney added.

Other later elements that don't qualify for copyright: a squeaky mouse voice, being adorable, doing jaunty dances, etc. These are all generic characteristics of cartoon mice, and they're free for you to use. Jenkins is more cautious on whether you can give your Mickey red shorts. She judges that "a single, bright, primary color for an article of clothing does not meet the copyrightability threshold" but without settled law, you might wanna change the colors.

But what about trademark? For years, Disney has included a clip from Steamboat Willie at the start of each of its films. Many observers characterized this as a bid to create a de facto perpetual copyright, by making Steamboat Willie inescapably associated with products from Disney, weaving an impassable web of trademark tripwires around it.

But trademark doesn't prevent you from using Steamboat Willie. It only prevents you from misleading consumers "into thinking your work is produced or sponsored by Disney." Trademarks don't expire so long as they're in use, but uses that don't create confusion are fair game under trademark.

Copyrights and trademarks can overlap. Mickey Mouse is a copyrighted character, but he's also an indicator that a product or service is associated with Disney. While Mickey's copyright expires in a couple weeks, his trademark doesn't. What happens to an out-of-copyright work that is still a trademark?

Luckily for us, this is also a thoroughly settled case. As in, this question was resolved in a unanimous 2000 Supreme Court ruling, Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox. A live trademark does not extend an expired copyright. As the Supremes said:

[This would] create a species of mutant copyright law that limits the public’s federal right to copy and to use expired copyrights.

This elaborates on the Ninth Circuit's 1996 Maljack Prods v Goodtimes Home Video Corp:

[Trademark][ cannot be used to circumvent copyright law. If material covered by copyright law has passed into the public domain, it cannot then be protected by the Lanham Act without rendering the Copyright Act a nullity.

Despite what you might have heard, there is no ambiguity here. Copyrights can't be extended through trademark. Period. Unanimous Supreme Court Decision. Boom. End of story. Done.

But even so, there are trademark considerations in how you use Steamboat Willie after Jan 1, but these considerations are about protecting the public, not Disney shareholders. Your uses can't be misleading. People who buy or view your Steamboat Willie media or products have to be totally clear that your work comes from you, not Disney.

Avoiding confusion will be very hard for some uses, like plush toys, or short idents at the beginning of feature films. For most uses, though, a prominent disclaimer will suffice. The copyright page for my 2003 debut novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom contains this disclaimer:

This novel is a work of fiction, set in an imagined future. All the characters and events portrayed in this book, including the imagined future of the Magic Kingdom, are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. The Walt Disney Company has not authorized or endorsed this novel.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250196385/downandoutinthemagickingdom

Here's the Ninth Circuit again:

When a public domain work is copied, along with its title, there is little likelihood of confusion when even the most minimal steps are taken to distinguish the publisher of the original from that of the copy. The public is receiving just what it believes it is receiving—the work with which the title has become associated. The public is not only unharmed, it is unconfused.

Trademark has many exceptions. The First Amendment protects your right to use trademarks in expressive ways, for example, to recreate famous paintings with Barbie dolls:

https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/mattel-walkingmountain-9thcir2003.pdf

And then there's "nominative use": it's not a trademark violation to use a trademark to accurately describe a trademarked thing. "We fix iPhones" is not a trademark violation. Neither is 'Works with HP printers.' This goes double for "expressive" uses of trademarks in new works of art:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_v._Grimaldi

What about "dilution"? Trademark protects a small number of superbrands from uses that "impair the distinctiveness or harm the reputation of the famous mark, even when there is no consumer confusion." Jenkins says that the Mickey silhouette and the current Mickey character designs might be entitled to protection from dilution, but Steamboat Willie doesn't make the cut.

Jenkins closes with a celebration of the public domain's ability to inspire new works, like Disney's Three Musketeers, Disney's Christmas Carol, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Disney's Around the World in 80 Days, Disney's Alice in Wonderland, Disney's Snow White, Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Disney's Cinderella, Disney's Little Mermaid, Disney's Pinocchio, Disney's Huck Finn, Disney's Robin Hood, and Disney's Aladdin. These are some of the best-loved films of the past century, and made Disney a leading example of what talented, creative people can do with the public domain.

As of January 1, Disney will start to be an example of what talented, creative people give back to the public domain, joining Dickens, Dumas, Carroll, Verne, de Villeneuve, the Brothers Grimm, Twain, Hugo, Perrault and Collodi.

Public domain day is 17 days away. Creators of all kinds: start your engines!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/15/mouse-liberation-front/#free-mickey

Image: Doo Lee (modified) https://web.law.duke.edu/sites/default/files/images/centers/cspd/pdd2024/mickey/Steamboat-WIllie-Enters-Public-Domain.jpeg

CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #copyfight #scotus #mickey mouse #public domain #ip #contract #trademark #tm #jennifer jenkins #copyright #disney #nominative use

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rookie-critic · 2 years ago

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Showing Up (2023, dir. Kelly Reichardt) - review by Rookie-Critic

I am a huge Kelly Reichardt fan. Ever since Tucker Meyers let me borrow his copy of her second film, Old Joy, earlier last year I've been greatly anticipating whatever she decided to make next. When I saw the trailer for Showing Up the first time I was instantly hooked. Not only was frequent Reichardt collaborator Michelle Williams starring, but 2022-breakout star Hong Chau would also be playing a role. Set in an artist community in Portland, the film follows William's Lizzy as she navigates the week leading up to a potentially career-making art show. Between the hot water in her apartment being busted, worrying about her mentally unwell brother, and an incident with a bird, the week Lizzy needs to really focus on her work is thrown into chaos.

Lizzy seems to have a generally negative disposition, even when factoring in all of the curveballs life throws at here over the course of the film. It's understandable, and there are many scenarios in the film where I was firmly on her side, but at the same time you wonder if she's too much emphasis on the negative instead of just focusing and what needs to be done. At the heart of the film and the center of Lizzy's character is why I adore Reichardt's filmmaking so much. Her characters have a tendency to feel almost too real. They're the kind of people you could pass by on the street. That you see sitting in the car next to you at a stoplight, or are even just another face in the crowd. She creates these characters that very likely actually exist and just plops them down in the world, and this allows her to analyze life from the perspective of somebody that is purely relatable. Their flaws feel organic, which makes their mistakes understandable, and their personalities tactile (Reichardt's insistence on shooting with 35mm film cameras also adds an aspect of warmth and intimacy to the world and characters). We don't see the characters go through grand, life-altering change or growth, because that would be too grandiose. Instead, we see them change very slowly, sometimes the character growth is so subtle that they're not even done changing by the time the story is over, but merely set on the right path. It all just feels so organic. Maybe that seems boring to some of you, but something about the way she weaves her stories just clicks with me.

This film also continues the tradition in Kelly Reichardt's films of analyzing characters the are stuck in some way. Stuck in life, physically stuck or lost, stuck in a dead-end town, stuck in an unfair system, Reichardt loves viewing how different personalities react to their individual claustrophobia. Lizzy has herself trapped in a negative headspace of her own design. Again, some her grievances are well-placed, but it is so all-encompassing. Everything is against her in some way shape or form. I won't spoil the ending for anyone interested, but the way the title of the film works into the overall message of taking life in stride and being there for others is truly inspired and something I didn't fully get until the conversation with Tucker on the drive home. To cut myself off from rambling any more nonsense at you, I'll just say the Showing Up is a wonderful film and another feather in Reichardt's cap. It's hard to nail down exactly what about her films gels with me on a deeply fundamental level, but I haven't watched a film of hers yet that I haven't absolutely adored. If you have the patience for a slow-paced character study, I highly recommend this. It's been the second-most fulfilling film-watching experience I've had with a new film in 2023 next to Colin West's Linoleum.

Score: 9/10

Only in theaters.

#Showing Up #Kelly Reichardt #Michelle Williams #Hong Chau #André Benjamin #Andre Benjamin #André 3000 #Andre 3000 #John Magaro #Maryann Plunkett #Judd Hirsch #Theo Taplitz #Amanda Plummer #Matt Malloy #Orianna Milne #James Le Gros #film review #movie review #2023 film

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uncharismatic-fauna · 2 months ago

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Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Identifying species can be an extremely difficult job for biologists-- especially when the animal in question has too few distinguishing features, or too many. Perhaps no species demonstrates this better than Littorina saxatilis, aka the rough periwinkle snail. Due to the extreme variations in shell shape, size, and color, this species has been misidentified by taxonomists 112 times! Even today, scientists are still in dispute over whether genetically distinct populations should be considered separate species.

(Image: Six rough periwinkle snails (Littorina saxatilis) by Sue Scott)

Want to request some art or uncharismatic facts? Just send me proof of donation of any amount to any of the fundraisers on this list, or a Palestinian organization of your choice!

Bonus: check out the list of L. saxatilis' former names below the cut!

Litorina groenlandica Menke, 1830

Litorina incarnata Philippi, 1846

Litorina marmorata L. Pfeiffer, 1839

Litorina sulcata Menke, 1830

Littorina castanea Deshayes in Deshayes & Milne Edwards, 1843

Littorina danieli Locard, 1886

Littorina groenlandica (Menke, 1830)

Littorina neglecta Bean, 1844

Littorina nervillei Dautzenberg, 1893

Littorina nervillei var. major Pallary in Seurat, 1924

Littorina nigrolineata Gray, 1839

Littorina palliata var. turritella Schlesch, 1916

Littorina rudis (Maton, 1797) (synonym)

Littorina rudis f. elatior Middendorff, 1849

Littorina rudis var. albida Dautzenberg, 1887

Littorina rudis var. alticola Dacie, 1917

Littorina rudis var. aurantia Dautzenberg, 1887

Littorina rudis var. brevis Dautzenberg, 1887

Littorina rudis var. conoidea Schlesch, 1916

Littorina rudis var. fasciata Dautzenberg, 1887

Littorina rudis var. finmarchia Herzenstein, 1885

Littorina rudis var. globosa Jeffreys, 1865

Littorina rudis var. globosa Martel, 1901

Littorina rudis var. laevis Jeffreys, 1865

Littorina rudis var. major Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina rudis var. rubescens Monterosato, 1878

Littorina rudis var. scotia S.M. Smith, 1979

Littorina rudis var. similis Jeffreys, 1865

Littorina rudis var. sulcata Martel, 1901

Littorina rudis var. tenebrosapallida L.E. Adams, 1896

Littorina rudis var. tessellata Dautzenberg, 1893

Littorina saxatile La Roque, 1953

Littorina saxatile saxatile La Roque, 1953

Littorina saxatilis Johnston, 1842

Littorina saxatilis f. abbreviata Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis f. conoidea Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis f. elongata Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis f. minor Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis groenlandica (Menke, 1830)

Littorina saxatilis groenlandica var. sculpta Schlesch, 1931

Littorina saxatilis jugosa Montagu, 1803

Littorina saxatilis jugosa var. bynei Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis jugosa var. tenuis James, 1968

Littorina saxatilis nigrolineata Gray, 1839

Littorina saxatilis rudis (Maton, 1797)

Littorina saxatilis rudis var. rudissimoides James, 1968

Littorina saxatilis scotia Graham, 1988

Littorina saxatilis tenebrosa (Montagu, 1803)

Littorina saxatilis tenebrosa var. biinterrupta Fischer-Piette & Gaillard, 1963

Littorina saxatilis tenebrosa var. bizonaria James, 1963

Littorina saxatilis tenebrosa var. elata Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis tenebrosa var. maculata Fischer-Piette & Gaillard, 1963

Littorina saxatilis var. clarilineata Fischer-Piette & Gaillard, 1971

Littorina saxatilis var. flammulata Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis var. fulva Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis var. fusca Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis var. gascae Fischer-Piette & Gaillard, 1971

Littorina saxatilis var. groenlandica (Menke, 1830)

Littorina saxatilis var. hieroglyphica Fischer-Piette, Gaillard & Jouin, 1961

Littorina saxatilis var. interrupta Fischer-Piette, Gaillard & Jouin, 1961

Littorina saxatilis var. lagunae Barnes, 1993

Littorina saxatilis var. lineata Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis var. lugubris Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis var. nigra Fischer-Piette & Gaillard, 1971

Littorina saxatilis var. nojensis Fischer-Piette & Gaillard, 1964

Littorina saxatilis var. rubra Fischer-Piette & Gaillard, 1971

Littorina saxatilis var. rubrolineata Fischer-Piette, Gaillard & Delmas, 1967

Littorina saxatilis var. salvati Fischer-Piette, Gaillard & Delmas, 1967

Littorina saxatilis var. sanguinea Coen, 1933

Littorina saxatilis var. sellensis Fischer-Piette & Gaillard, 1964

Littorina saxatilis var. tractibus Fischer-Piette, Gaillard & Jouin, 1961

Littorina saxatilis var. trifasciata Dautzenberg & P. Fisher, 1912

Littorina saxatilis zonata Daniel, 1883

Littorina saxoides Nardo, 1847

Littorina simplex Reeve, 1857

Littorina tenebrosa (Montagu, 1803)

Littorina tenebrosa f. elatior Middendorff, 1849

Littorina tenebrosa var. costulata Middendorff, 1849

Littorina tenebrosa var. densecostulata Middendorff, 1849

Littorina tenebrosa var. grisolacteus Middendorff, 1849

Littorina tenebrosa var. intermedia Forbes & Hanley, 1850

Littorina tenebrosa var. rubidus Middendorff, 1849

Littorina tenebrosa var. tessellatus Middendorff, 1849

Littorina tenebrosa var. zonatus Middendorff, 1849

Littorina zonaria Bean, 1844

Nerita rustica Nardo, 1847

Turbo obligatus Say, 1822

Turbo rudis Maton, 1797

Turbo rudissimus Johnston, 1842

#rough periwinkle snail #Littorinimorpha #Littorinidae #periwinkle snails #sea snails #snails #gastropods #mollusks #invertebrates #uncharismatic facts

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thequeenofthedisneyverse · 8 months ago

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Technology from 1870-1899 (For Encanto fic writers)

So, A mutual of mine @miracles-and-butterfliess pointed out that everyone (including me) tends to forget that Encanto was literally made when the triplets were born. Which is literally 1900 or 1901. Regardless, it was the very beginning of the 19th century so let me tell you about the technology/things they would/wouldn’t have. (And please keep in mind that most of these may or may not have been imported into Colombia yet.)

1870 - 1879

1872—A.M. Ward creates the first mail-order catalog. NO

1873—Joseph Glidden invented barbed wire. NO

1876—Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone. NO

1876—Nicolaus August Otto invents the first practical four-stroke internal combustion engine. NO

1876—Melville Bissell patents the carpet sweeper. NO?

1878—Thomas Edison invents the cylinder phonograph (known then as the tin foil phonograph). MAYBE

1878—Eadweard Muybridge invents moving pictures. NO?

1878—Sir Joseph Wilson Swan invents the prototype for a practical electric lightbulb. YES?

1879—Thomas Edison invented the first commercially viable incandescent electric light bulb. NO?

1880 - 1889

1880—The British Perforated Paper Company debuts toilet paper. YES

1880—English inventor John Milne creates the modern seismograph. NO

1881—David Houston patents camera film in roll format. NO?

1884—Lewis Edson Waterman invents the first practical fountain pen. YES

1884—L. A. Thompson built and opened the first roller coaster in the United States at a site on Coney Island, New York. NO

1884—James Ritty invents a functional mechanical cash register. YES?

1884—Charles Parson patents the steam turbine. NO

1885—Karl Benz invented the first practical automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine. NO (even before Encanto, Alma’s town looked rural so I doubt the automobile reached them yet.)

1885—Gottlieb Daimler invented the first gas-engine motorcycle. NO

1886—John Pemberton introduces Coca-Cola. NO

1886—Gottlieb Daimler designs and builds the world's first four-wheeled automobile. NO

1887—Heinrich Hertz invents radar. NO

1887—Emile Berliner invented the gramophone. YES

1887—F.E. Muller and Adolph Fick invented the first wearable contact lenses. NO

1888—Nikola Tesla invents the alternating current motor and transformer. NO

1890 - 1899

1891—Jesse W. Reno invents the escalator. NO

1892—Rudolf Diesel invents the diesel-fueled internal combustion engine, which he patents six years later. NO

1892—Sir James Dewar invents the Dewar vacuum flask. NO

1893—W.L. Judson invents the zipper. NO (zippers didn’t become popular globally until a little bit later; buttons, ribbons/laces and whatever else were still the norm/in fashion for fastening and tying (which is still the case in some places today)

1895—Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière invent a portable motion-picture camera that doubles as a film-processing unit and projector. The invention is called the Cinematographe and using it, the Lumières project the motion picture for an audience. NO?

1899—J.S. Thurman patents the motor-driven vacuum cleaner. NO (if you're running from being killed, the last thing you're going to bring is a vacuum cleaner)

I remember a post listing the sort of jobs there would be in Encanto but I forgot so I’ll just list the ones I know (let me know if I need to add anything.):

Seamstress/tailor

Embellisher

Field worker

Teacher (of any kind; music, dance, art, etc)

Woodworker - wood carver

Toy maker

Construction worker

Joining a Local band/ Orchestra - being apart of a choir

Carpenter

Metal worker

Jeweler (though I’m not sure if Jewelery of the diamond/gem kind is common in Encanto)

bladesmith/ knifemaker

Inventor? (Inventors should exist in Encanto by now…just one other genius besides Mirabel?)

I know some of these are very obvious but I’m just giving people options okay?

@miracles-and-butterflies you seem to know a lot more about this kind of stuff so if you have anything to add/take away or me to fix please let me know. I tried to search up “When was X invention imported into Colombia” and literally nothing of use comes up.

#camilo madrigal #bruno madrigal #mirabel madrigal #dolores madrigal #antonio madrigal #isabela madrigal #pepa madrigal #encanto 2021 #encanto au #encanto fanfic

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