Today I will be posting thoughts about Aaron Swartz, who died on this day in 2013. The academic community should be much more aware of him, and challenge the massive problem of academic publishing that we are all part of. Let's make it our mission to tell people about Aaron and what he stood for.
What is in the public domain must not be taken from the public. Resist licensing, fight against any kind of intellectual monopoly.
#UK#PD#PublicDomain#Copyright: "A recent judgement on copyright in the Court of Appeal (20 November) heralds the end of UK museums charging fees to reproduce historic artworks. In fact, it suggests museums have been mis-selling “image licences” for over a decade. For those of us who have been campaigning on the issue for years, it is the news we’ve been waiting for.
The judgement is important because it confirms that museums do not have valid copyright in photographs of (two-dimensional) works which are themselves out of copyright. It means these photographs are in the public domain, and free to use.
Museums use copyright to restrict the circulation of images, obliging people to buy expensive licences. Any thought of scholars sharing images, or using those available on museum websites, was claimed to be a breach of copyright. Not surprisingly, most people paid up. Copyright is the glue that holds the image fee ecosystem in place.
What has now changed? Museums used to rely on the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, which placed a low threshold on how copyright was acquired; essentially, if some degree of “skill and labour” was involved in taking a photograph of a painting, then that photograph enjoyed copyright. But subsequent case law has raised the bar, as the new Appeal Court judgement makes clear."
Artist Charles Mingus
Date NY, , 1959
Label_Record Columbia CL1370
Matrix CO63337-3
Performers Willie Dennis (tb) John Handy (as) Booker Ervin (ts) Curtis Porter aka Shafi Hadi (as,ts) Horace Parlan (p) Charles Mingus (b) Dannie Richmond (d)
Title Open Letter To Duke
URL http://www.jazz-on-line.com/a/mp3t/TS481487.mp3
Year 1959
#PD#PublicDomain#Copyright#IP: "Everybody’s talking about Mickey. On November 18th, 1928 Steamboat Willie was published, the third Mickey Mouse film by Walt Disney and the first one to be published with sound. The prior two Mickey Mouse films, including Plane Crazy, had not been picked up for distribution so this was the public’s first introduction to the mouse. Steamboat Willie may have been named after another popular movie that came out in 1928, Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr., or perhaps the Vaudeville song, “Steamboat Bill” (popularized in 1910) which was included in the soundtrack (along with the 19th century song “Turkey in the Straw”).
But there were many other movies that debuted in 1928, and here are just a few noted examples:"
The Public Domain Society welcomes its newest member: Mickey Mouse (the Steamboat Willie version). Existing members include (from left to right) Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Dejah Thoris (Warlord of Mars), Tarzan, Cthulhu, Sherlock Holmes, Conan The Barbarian, Frankenstein Monster, Alice Liddell, and Dracula. Welcome to the party! It's been a long time coming.
Yes, for people upset that Mickey Mouse is in the public domain and random people will do random and less than commendable things with the character, may I remind you that #Disney became what it is, not so much thanks to Mickey Mouse, but thanks to its use (we could almost say plundering) of the European tales and myths, all public domain of course. To the point that nowadays most non-Europeans (and probably some Europeans too) think that Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood, and many more are Disney characters.
Well, breaking news (centuries old breaking news) they're not. They never were.
The whole Disney Princess trope wouldn't even exist without the public domain.
And worse, Disney managed to have these characters copyrighted in many more ways than they should.
So having Mickey Mouse in the public domain is just paying it back and forward.
I hope to see many new both great and silly things with the non-Disney Mickey Mouse. I can't wait for the remake of SteamBoat Willy.
There is a speedway team in Poland that has been using a mouse as a logo since 1961. It is eerily similar to the Mickey Mouse, but the logo designer says that he didn't know Disney's cartoon character before drawing it.
Absolutely! It the material is free (public domain) might as well. Even if it just starts out digital.
I think people that know the old material coming into the #PublicDomain, especially those with high quality recordings should be able to curate many spectacular releases. Just release is under a #CreativeCommons license like CC-BY-SA 4.0 & everyone should be thrilled!
As we all celebrate the #publicdomain, I think it's worth discussing just how much damage the Mickey Mouse Protection Act has caused.
The film that Steamboat Willie was originyally screened before in theatres entered the public domain this year too. It was called Gang War. Haven't seen anyone talking about it? That's because it no longer exists! It and many films like it have been unpreserved due to the unreasonyably long copyright terms that the WDC lobbied for. The film had a pretty star-studded cast for its day too. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_War_(1928_film)
Just in the last two days, independent video game creators and film directors have announced two #HorrorMovies and a #VideoGame featuring the character, while memes are spreading online showing Mickey in absurd and inappropriate scenes, including nautical accidents and terrorist attacks.
You've heard the news about 'Steamboat Willie.' For ongoing news about the growing number of resources available to you in the public domain, check out Public Domain Review—a valuable news site with extensive listings and a free newsletter.