Disney Panics After Lawmaker Threatens To Take Away Their Most Prized Possession
(LibertySociety.com) – Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) recently targeted Disney when he wrote the Copyright Clause Restoration Act of 2022, which would significantly shorten the length of copyrights. The legislation caps corporate copyrights to 56 years and if passed, would be applied retroactively, which could spell disaster for Disney and other similar companies. Hawley stated the time for special protections afforded by old congressional law is over and Republicans won’t be giving any more “handouts to Big Business.”
There’s no reason @disney or any other woke corporation should keep getting special favors from government. End the handouts now
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) May 10, 2022
As of now, the law protects creations for the rest of the creator’s life with an additional 70 years tacked on to the end. Anything created before 1978 had 95 years of protection automatically. According to Hawley, Disney used the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (aka The Mickey Mouse Protection Act) to extend its famous copyrights for anywhere up to 120 years.
The Missouri legislator is introducing the bill in retaliation for Disney’s opposition to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, passed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL). The Sunshine State leader already signed a bill to dissolve Disney’s self-governing status.
About 24 other Republican lawmakers intend to join Hawley and oppose Disney’s renewal of its coveted Mickey Mouse copyright in 2024.
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