How Mickey Mouse Evades the Public Domain I knew that Mickey was a huge part of the reason for ongoing copyright extensions. What I didn't know was that Disney have no real *need* to push for them, since they've got him so heavily trademarked. They own him as long as they want to.
What Could Have Entered the Public Domain on January 1, 2016? This is saddening. Even among the famous works, there's a lot here that it would be a huge public good to have copyright-free, and I don't think anyone could argue that the original creators (or in most cases, their estates) haven't been fairly compenstated for these work.