e-Monkey Newsletter -- Volume 1, Issue 5 | Main | Doesn't Come With a Web Button, But...

January 17, 2003

Mickey Speaks

Sometimes "light and funny" makes the case better than a lot of squawking and heavy breathing. Here's Mickey Mouse explaining why he hates the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act:

"My first cartoon short, Steamboat Willie , was a direct parody of Keaton's movie Steamboat Bill, Jr. On the very first page of the script, it says, "Orchestra starts playing opening verses of Steamboat Bill ." I remember what Eldred's lawyer Lawrence Lessig said when he read that: "Try doing a cartoon take-off of one of Disney, Inc.'s latest films with an opening that copies the music.

"So yeah, they created me. But they don't want to let other people build on me when they make their own creations, the way they did when I was born. And now I'm locked up for another stinking 20 years! Do you have any idea what it's like to have to greet kids at Disneyland every single day, always smiling, never slipping off for a cigarette ?