Solving The Mickey Mouse Copyright Problem

For some time there has been a raging debate between those who argue for and against lengthening the term of copyright. On the one side are creators and owners of original content who shudder at the thought of their copyrighted works falling into the public domain and becoming free for all to use. They argue that strong copyright laws encourage the creation of new works. On the other side are a different group of content users and creators, who are stymied that they cannot adapt or use older content in telling new stories or creating new works. Their view is that long copyright terms obstruct the creation of valuable derivative works and that old works should be like folklore: free for anyone to use.