I have two questions, how can a company like Disney own fairytales that they stole from folklore, doesn’t that fall under fair use or public domain?
Also, how does Disney still own copyright for their characters pass the 50 year copyright statue of limitation?
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Disney doesn’t own the copyrights to old fairytales, only to their specific version of them. Walt Disney suffered an early career loss when he didn’t correctly interpret the legal language covering ownership of Oswald the Rabbit. As a result, he became a ferocious intellectual property exploiter. The Disney Company took up the mindset from its founder, and has applied significant pressure to the US Congress, California Congressman Sonny Bono (yes, the singer) in particular. There are few people with as strong a motivation to campaign against Disney in Congress. As a result, US copyright has become a laughingstock. A patent on a genuinely useful invention lasts 17 years and yet the drawing of a mouse lasts the lifetime of the artist + 75 more years. Not exactly fair.
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