Edd Keating

Recovering journalist. A smattering of PR / comms, the odd book, a splash of robots, occasional blog posts, views my own.

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

Tomorrow is both Sunday and bin day.
Struggling to hold both these concepts in my brain at the same time.
#Wibblywobblytimeywimey

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

@SiAngear And that accent broke my heart (and I speak as someone who wants to live in the alternate timeline where he got the gig as Anakin...)

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

@SiAngear I *really wanted to like it. On paper it had sooooo much going for it.
But the pacing was awful, the effects did that thing only #netflix seems to do where there is so much going on, yet none of actually matters, so doesn't matter where on the screen you look.

[bummer without b @bummer_no_b]

Trying my hand at writing the next big Christmas song

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

Original Micky Mouse about to enter public domain.
(I am a geek for copyright/ IP law...)

[Trung Phan @TrungTPhan]

Disney loses copyright protection of Mickey Mouse on January 1st, when the characters enter the public domain.

It is not a total full free for all, though.

The world can remix the 1928 version of Mickey Mouse (famous from "Steamboat Willie").

But Disney retains copyright on other Mickey Mouse variations (notable post-1928 character changes include Mickey with white gloves and then red pants).

Either way, Disney's history with copyright is complex (which is why the upcoming Public Domain Day is so hype).

***

1. AVID USER OF PUBLIC DOMAIN

Per Duke Law School, so much of Disney's most-banging IP is influenced by old works including:

◻️"Frozen" (2013) = inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen (from 1844)
◻️"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996) = story by Victor Hugo (from 1831)
◻️"The Lion King" (1994) = inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet (from ~1601)
◻️"The Little Mermaid" (1989) = inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s "The Little Sea Maid" (from 1837)
◻️"Alice in Wonderland" (1951) = story by Lewis Carroll (from 1865)
◻️"Cinderella" (1950) = story by Charles Perrault (from 1697)
◻️Fantasia (1940) = "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" inspired by a Johann Wolfgang von Goethe poem (from 1797)
◻️"Snow White" (1937) = story The Brothers Grimm (from 1812)

2. HUGE BACKER OF COPYRIGHT EXTENSION

Disney is the face of copyright extension lobbying in the United States. It played a crucial role in getting the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 passed (aka "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act").

That act extended copyright terms by 20 years, which had this effect:

◻️ Individual works: a current span of the author's life plus 70 years
◻️ Corporate-held works: either 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation (whichever is shorter)

***

Copyright extension has allowed Disney to longer protect its massive collection of character IP and let the company maximise its juicy revenue streams (merch, theme parks, media).

Also, Disney retains the Mickey trademark, which is anything related to a product's brand — words, logos, images etc. — and doesn't automatically expire (copyright concerns the creative aspect of the work and prevents people from copying without permission).

The trademark doesn't stop someone from remixing the 1928 version of Mickey. Just as long as the remix isn't deceiving consumers into thinking the work is created or sponsored by Disney.

Of note: Disney has been less concerned over its copyrights in recent years (with much fewer copyright lawsuits than decades previous).

Its larger concern: digital piracy.

"Studios have become more concerned with online piracy, which they typically don’t fight in court," writes Variety's Gene Maddaus. "Instead, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), studios submit takedown notices — millions of them — to online platforms."

In sum: the "Steamboat Willie" Mickey Mouse memes are about to be incredible in the weeks to come.

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

Latest read:

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

The return of the king did not disappoint.
#DoctorWho special was everything you would expect from #Russelltdavies

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

Who was the best Dr Who writer?

[Batshit Australia @batshit_auspol]

When the American space station Skylab crashed back to earth over Western Australia in 1979, the local Parks Service issued a $400 fine to NASA for littering

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

@BeckyKeating2 Hello.

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

This debate is only going to become more mainstream:
https://t.co/vDnk5lAbUT

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

Sign that H and H are growing up:
While looking up at the stars with them earlier I started off the #PeppaPig #NorthStar song...
And neither of them joined in 😢

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

Book 6 of #TheExpanse novels is another fabulous sci fi read.
A solar system wide (and a little beyond) story which is at once sweeping and historic in scope, while also showing the stories of many individuals. Highly recommended.

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

Come on #netflix - it must be time for a modern remake of #BrewstersMillions

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

This is amazing.

#Robots

[Rowan Cheung @rowancheung]

This is so surreal.

We've replaced horses with robots.

Adam Savage from Mythbusters built a rickshaw pulled by Boston Dynamics robot, Spot (the one that can now speak using ChatGPT).

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

Remember, what people post online is only a carefully edited version of their reality.

Social media = propaganda.

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

@Victoria_Spratt @hannahfearn Would note councils have spent the last 20 yrs selling off the agricultural land they owned to balance their books, so seems odd to now allow them to rebuy when if they wanted to solve the housing issue they could have rezoned + built on the agricultural land they already owned.

[Edd Keating @Edd_Keating]

@Victoria_Spratt @hannahfearn Land inside settlement boundaries, it feels like that amendment is misshaped.
Why not just make councils extend the settlement boundaries and make the social housing quota of all new builds 30% so all the new estates come with an inbuilt solution to the affordable housing issue?