3 Caballeros PD?

[Dan Shane]

STEFAN WROTE:

This has been discussed here before, but when does something become public
domain?  I have in my hand a Japanese DVD edition of The Three Caballeros
(ÈýÈË
¤ÎòTÊ¿ or Sannin no Kishi) with no Disney logos or copyright information
anywhere, except for a big notice where it says that the movie belongs to
the public domain.  How is this possible?  I thought that Disney still owned
several trade marks related to the movie (such as the very commonly used
Donald Duck and Jos¨¦ Carioca trade marks).

AND I REPLY:

Disney characters are most definitely *not* in the public domain, but some
of the films the studio produced are.  One of the most prominent that comes
to mind is the Donald Duck short SPIRIT OF '43, which can actually be viewed
online at any time: 

http://www.jonhs.net/freemovies/spirit_of_1943.htm

THE THREE CABALLEROS does not fall into this category, however.  As far as I
know Disney has always renewed copyright on all their feature-length films,
so the DVD you possess is probably a pirated copy.


Dan