i'd never seen steamboat willie before; now that it's public domain in the usa, i have<p>wp says:<p>> <i>In the 1950s, Disney removed a scene where Mickey tugs on the tails of the baby pigs, picks up the mother and kicks them off her teats, and plays her like an accordion, since television distributors deemed it inappropriate.[34] Since then, the full version of the film was included on the 1998 compilation VHS The Spirit of Mickey and the Walt Disney Treasures DVD set "Mickey Mouse in Black and White", as well as on Disney+.</i><p>this version has the tugging on tails, but not the picking up and accordioning of the mother, so it's a falsified version<p>the version xdennis linked <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jap-UBbmPsw" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jap-UBbmPsw</a> in <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38830369">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38830369</a> does have that full segment and is also clearer
Context: the copyright for this movie expired; it is now public domain [1].<p>[1] <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67833411" rel="nofollow">https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67833411</a>
Also see us changing copyright law extending it years to keep Disney works like steamboat willie private in the past.<p>"Under this Act, works made in 1923 or afterwards that were still protected by copyright in 1998 would not enter the public domain until January 1, 2019, or later. Mickey Mouse specifically, having first appeared in 1928 in Steamboat Willie, entered the public domain in 2024[5] or afterward (depending on the date of the product). Unlike copyright extension legislation in the European Union, the Sonny Bono Act did not revive copyrights that had already expired, and therefore is not retroactive in that sense"
Source: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act</a><p>"Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act – also known as the Copyright Term Extension Act"<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act</a>
It was obvious for at least the last year that this would enter the public domain, probably more like 2 or 3 years. And yet I reliably saw cynicism suggesting that Disney would be able to get another copyright extension passed. Disney wasn't even pursuing that.
You can watch it on Archive.org as well<p><a href="https://archive.org/details/SteamboatWillie" rel="nofollow">https://archive.org/details/SteamboatWillie</a>
There's a 4K transfer version: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jap-UBbmPsw" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jap-UBbmPsw</a> . Looks a bit AI though.
It's a testament to how large media interests have totally dominated our copyright system that people are so excited about this completely worthless, 100 year old, antiquated garbage being released into the public domain is considered a big deal. The entire Disney canon would be in the public domain if the duration of copyright hadn't been extended again and again and again and again.<p>It is 95 (up to 120) years after creation or the death of the author plus 70 years. This is absolutely absurd and serves no public interest. It only serves to benefit huge media companies that have purchased our entire shared heritage's back-catalog and survive largely by leasing it back to us over and over and over.
Is this video up to modern YouTube community standards? One of the tunes featured in it ("Turkey in the Straw") also circulated in well-known versions "Zip C..n" and "[N-WORD] Love a Wat.rm.lon, Ha! Ha! Ha!" Yup, surprisingly enough, these used to be considered "funny, entertaining" lyrics back then. A very disappointing chapter of American social history.