There is a reason US copyright law is sometimes “affectionately” known as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act; there is a strange coincidence at play here – every time the copyright on Walt Disney’s early creations is about to expire, US copyright terms get magically extended by another few years. Currently, a work is under copyright both in the US and the UK for 70 years after the author’s death. This might make sense for Disney–at least someone is still making money from Walt’s creations–but for the vast majority of creative works out there, this lengthy copyright term is an issue.
Read more at ORGZine.