IP & Media Law Updates

12/29/2023 2:51:23 PM

Mickey Mouse (Version 1.0) Enters the Public Domain in the U.S.

By Brian Murphy

So, it is happening. The animated short “Steamboat Willie,” which was released in 1928 and features an early version of Mickey Mouse,...

12/28/2022 3:25:49 PM

By Brian Murphy

In 1927, Calvin Coolidge was president, the first commercial flight of Pan American Airways took off (leaving Key West bound for Havana),...

5/15/2022 4:00:56 AM

By Edward H. Rosenthal

Last week, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo) introduced a bill in the Senate to reduce the length of copyright protection and (mostly) to punish...

2/19/2021 12:00:00 AM

By Edward H. Rosenthal

At the beginning of the year, my partner, Brian Murphy, published his annual post about works that were entering the public domain as of...

1/3/2021 3:55:12 PM

By Brian Murphy

Goodbye, 2020, a total annus horribilis, if ever one there was. Hello, 2021, a year in which there is reason to be cautiously optimistic...

3/19/2020 11:34:09 PM

By Brian Murphy

In 2004 - four Presidential election cycles ago - the website JibJab posted a wildly popular video in which animated versions of...