[Inside Chodong] Is Copyright the Modern Form of Rent?

Mickey Mouse Remains Under Copyright for 95 Years
Still Protected, Restricting New Creative Works
Copyright Barriers Lead to Unearned Income

The promotional ambassadors, or the "faces of the Book Fair," for the "2024 Seoul International Book Fair" held at COEX from the 26th to the 30th, are Gulliver and Jedori (a Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin released into the sea off Jeju in 2013). The Korea Publishers Association, which hosts the Seoul International Book Fair, initially considered Mickey Mouse as a promotional ambassador but gave up. They had planned to use Mickey Mouse's image after the copyright for "Steamboat Willie" was released, but there were still several restrictions.

"Steamboat Willie" is a 1928 black-and-white animation featuring Mickey Mouse as the main character. The copyright for this animation expired on January 1 of this year. However, the Mickey Mouse in "Steamboat Willie" is black-and-white and does not wear gloves. The copyright for the familiar Mickey Mouse wearing white gloves and red pants is still valid. Mickey Mouse has been protected for 95 years and remains under copyright protection.

The play "The Cherry Orchard" is currently being performed at the LG Arts Center Seoul. It is a new reinterpretation of the last work left by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860?1904). Simon Stone, the director, gave a lecture at the Hongik University Daehangno Art Center ahead of the play's opening. He pointed out that excessive copyright protection can hinder free creative activities. He mentioned the case of American playwright Arthur Miller (1915?2005), famous for works such as "Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible." Miller passed away in 2005, and under current U.S. copyright law, his works will only enter the public domain in 2075, 70 years after his death. By then, Miller's grandson, born in 1998, will be approaching 80 years old. Thanks to his grandfather, Miller's grandson receives lifetime copyright royalty income.

Because of this, there are criticisms that copyright has become a modern form of rent-seeking. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and former chief economist at the World Bank (WB), stated in his 2012 book "The Price of Inequality" that "a significant portion of the income earned by the wealthy today results from increased rent-seeking."

Currently, the musical "The Great Gatsby" produced by the domestic production company Odi Company is being performed on Broadway in the United States. It is doing well, generating over $1 million in sales weekly. The reason Odi Company was able to produce "The Great Gatsby" is closely related to copyright issues. Since "The Great Gatsby" was published in 1925, its copyright expired in 2021 after 95 years.

Currently, copyright is generally protected for 70 years after the author's death. This is due to the United States extending the copyright protection period from 50 to 70 years after the author's death in 1998. When the law was passed, the protection period for works like Mickey Mouse was extended from 75 to 95 years. South Korea also extended the copyright protection period from 50 to 70 years after the author's death in 2013. However, the 1998 U.S. copyright law is said to have been passed due to Disney's lobbying and is mockingly called the "Mickey Mouse Law."

The rights of authors to their creations should rightfully be protected. However, if some people earn unearned income because of copyright, while others are hindered in their creative activities, we should consider whether copyright protection is excessive. It is said that "imitation is the mother of creation." Director Stone said that before the concept of copyright existed, many creators made works through imitation, and those works have become what we now call classics.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.