第2042期:Mickey Mouse Will Soon Belong to You, Me, Everyone

An early version of Mickey Mouse, the famous Disney character, will soon belong to you, me and everybody else. 著名的迪士尼角色米老鼠的早期版本很快将属于你、我和其他所有人。The mouse that started a Hollywood empire, along with several other characters, movies, and books will enter the public domain on January 1st. 开创好莱坞帝国的老鼠以及其他几个角色、电影和书籍将于 1 月 1 日进入公共领域。 Public domain is the term to describe creative works that are no longer protected by U.S. copyright law. Once a work enters the public domain, it can legally be shared, performed, reused, or repurposed without permission or cost. 公共领域是描述不再受美国版权法保护的创意作品的术语。 一旦作品进入公共领域，就可以合法地共享、表演、重复使用或改变用途，无需许可或支付费用。 Mickey Mouse, and Minnie Mouse, first appeared publicly in the 1928 film Steamboat Willie. Copyright law at the time provided protection for 75 years. But in 1998, U.S. law extended copyright protection for another 20 years. 米奇和米妮首次公开亮相是在 1928 年的电影《威利汽船》中。 当时的版权法提供了 75 年的保护。 但1998年，美国法律将版权保护又延长了20年。 Jennifer Jenkins is head of Duke University’s Center for the Study of Public Domain. Jenkins says copyright law is sometimes called the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. As the character is about to enter the public domain, she says “This is it. This is Mickey Mouse. This is exciting because it’s kind of symbolic.” 詹妮弗·詹金斯 (Jennifer Jenkins) 是杜克大学公共领域研究中心的负责人。 詹金斯说，版权法有时被称为“米老鼠保护法”。 当这个角色即将进入公共领域时，她说：“就是这样。 这是米老鼠。 这很令人兴奋，因为它具有象征意义。”In a statement, the Disney Company told The Associated Press, “Ever since Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie, people have associated the character with Disney’s stories, experiences, and authentic products.” The company added, “More modern versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright,…” 迪士尼公司在一份声明中告诉美联社，“自从米老鼠首次出现在 1928 年短片《威利汽船》中以来，人们就将这个角色与迪士尼的故事、经历和正宗产品联系在一起。” 该公司补充说，“更现代的米奇版本将不会受到威利汽船版权到期的影响……” People will only be able to use the version of the mouse in Steamboat Willie that has become public. However, observers expect the courts to be busy in the coming years judging what is inside and outside Disney’s ownership. 人们只能使用《威利号汽船》中已公开的鼠标版本。 然而，观察人士预计，未来几年法院将忙于判断迪士尼所有权内外的内容。 Disney also holds a trademark on Mickey to represent the company and its brand. That law bars the use of the character as a Disney product identifier for anyone except Disney. 迪士尼还拥有米奇商标，代表该公司及其品牌。 该法律禁止除迪士尼以外的任何人使用该角色作为迪士尼产品标识符。Another famous animal character, Tigger, will also join his friend Winnie the Pooh in the public domain. The bouncing tiger first appeared in the book The House at Pooh Corner by British writer A.A. Milne. It turns 96 in January. 另一位著名的动物角色跳跳虎也将与他的朋友小熊维尼一起出现在公共领域。 弹跳老虎首次出现在英国作家 A.A. 的《小熊维尼角的房子》一书中。 米尔恩. 一月份就满96岁了。 The silly old bear Pooh, himself, became public property two years ago when Milne’s book Winnie the Pooh came of age. The soft-spoken bear, no longer protected by copyright, is seen terrorizing women in this year’s horror film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. 两年前，当米尔恩的书《小熊维尼》成熟时，愚蠢的老熊维尼本人就成为了公共财产。 在今年的恐怖电影《小熊维尼：血与蜜》中，这只说话轻声细语的熊不再受到版权保护，它正在恐吓女性。 Other creative works entering the U.S. public domain are Charlie Chaplin’s film Circus, Virginia Woolf’s book Orlando, and Eugene O’Neill’s play Long Day’s Journey into Night. 其他进入美国公共领域的创意作品包括查理·卓别林的电影《马戏团》、弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的书《奥兰多》和尤金·奥尼尔的戏剧《长夜之旅》。