Public Domain Characters - Tumblr Posts

THIS!! read this!!

Here's something Disney desperately does not want anyone to know:

When you create your own original design for Mickey Mouse now that he's Public Domain, you now own that version of Mickey Mouse.

This is the same reason that Disney owns their versions of Rapunzel, Cinderella, Briar Rose, and more, even though these characters came from the Public Domain.

If you make an original design for Mickey Mouse, it belongs to you. You own the copyright. Disney cannot use that design for profit unless they get your permission and/or pay you. The exact same way you can't use Disney's version of Cinderella for profit.

Copyright goes both ways, despite what the billionaires who run megacorporations want you to think. They rely on you thinking of them as all powerful and unstoppable. But the rules do in fact apply to them too. They are not all-powerful. They're not invincible. They're greedy, lying bastards who rely on your hopeless fear.

Have hope, be bold, go forth and create with joy.

Edit because I remembered another example:

This is also why you're not supposed to show writers your fanfiction for their series! Even though you are writing fanfiction, and the characters belong to their creator, what you have written belongs to you! Writers do not want to accidentally steal from you by incorporating your fanfiction into the official material, because that does genuinely open them up to lawsuits! They're taking your ideas and profiting off them!

[ID: A version of the yes/no meme format showing two screenshots of Mickey Mouse from the 1928 animation Steamboat Willie. For the "no" section, he looks at the ground dejectedly. For the "yes" example," he leaps into the air with joy. The no section reads, in quotation marks, "You can only use the version of Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie!", followed by, in parentheses, "(Extremely misleading, making it seem like the Public Domain demands stagnation and kills creativity)". The yes section reads, in quotation marks, "You can redesign Mickey Mouse in any style or outfit you like as long as it's not a version still owned by Disney's copyright", followed by in parentheses, "(Actually explains the rule, lets people unleash their creativity.)". End ID.]

You can buy this design from my threadless store if you want to help a trans disabled artist pay rent AND spread correct info about the Public Domain at the same time :)

If you save this meme template to use, please also save the image description above as a word document or in a notes app! When you post your version of the meme, just edit the relevant sections :)