<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="MS Exchange Server version 5.5.2653.12">
<TITLE>Copyright and Trademark</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Hi everyone,</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">It</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">'</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">s been pointed out recently that copyright has expired on early Disney work and that theoretically that means that they</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">'</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">re free to use. I</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">'</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">m no expert on this, but my understanding is that</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">in addition to the copyright protection,</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">all of the different cartoon characters owned by Disney have</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"></FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">been trademarked, which is something that does not expire as long as</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Disney uses those trademarks (characters)</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> occasionally and</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">they are</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> still recognis</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">ed and identifiable</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"></FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">within their respective trademark category</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">.</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Interestingly, Disney does not add a date tag to</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">any</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> claim of copyright</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> like you see in most books. Instead</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> you will only see the copyright symbol and next to it the word DISNEY.</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I guess t</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">his puts the onus of proof of expiry of copyright on the</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">'</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">infringer</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">'</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">, a smart move.</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><A NAME="_MailAutoSig"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">regards</FONT></A></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Shaun Craill</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT></P>
</BODY>
</HTML>