the.com/sonny bono act
the law that keeps mickey mouse off the public domain buffet for another few decades.
means a 1998 u.s. law extending copyright terms by 20 years, to life plus 70 for individuals and 95 years for corporate works.
from named after congressman and former sonny and cher singer sonny bono, who died in a skiing accident in 1998 before the bill passed; disney's lobbying to protect early mickey mouse cartoons earned it the nickname the mickey mouse protection act.
official namecopyright term extension act of 1998
nicknamewidely called the mickey mouse protection act
court challengeupheld by supreme court in eldred v. ashcroft, 2003
patternseventh time congress extended copyright since 1962
for instance
steamboat willie — finally entered public domain january 2024, 95 years after 1928
eldred v ashcroft — 2003 supreme court case that upheld the act 7-2
winnie the pooh — a.a. milne's 1926 original entered public domain in 2022