Let's Talk About the Elephant in the Room
... and in copyright law.
Dr. Seuss books and Disney movies are both being pulled by the publisher. I keep hearing "They can do what they want! They're private companies!"
Right?
Maybe not.
You do know what's keeping someone from going out and publishing their own copies of one of those books or movies?
The federal government. Specifically - copyright law.
The US Constitution (Article I, Section 8) states that Congress will be granted the power "... to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
Copyright law in the US originally provided 28 years of legal protection (an initial 14-year term, renewable for another 14 years). During the next two centuries, Congress fiddled a bit with copyright laws, extending the initial term to 28 years, then allowing the renewal to be 28 years as well.
Limited times.
Details aside, up until 1976 - during the first two centuries of the existence of the United States - copyright on a work in the US was for a MAXIMUM period of 56 years.
Then came the 1976 Copyright Act. Disney was a principal lobbyist for changes to copyright law in order to grant owners - including Disney - what has become almost never-ending control over the properties they own.
The 1976 act retroactively extended copyright to 75 years or the life of the author plus 50 years - whichever was greater. That was further extended in 1998 so that copyright now lasts for up to 120 years or life plus 70 years. I have no doubt that further extensions are on the way.
Yeah, technically, it's still a "limited time". Technically.
WITHOUT the 1976 and 1998 extensions, everything published before 1965 would currently be considered in the public domain.
For Dr. Seuss, that would mean that 5 of the 6 "withdrawn" books would be in the public domain. For Disney, "Dumbo" and "Peter Pan" would also be in the public domain. Within 15 years, all of the "pulled" works from both companies would be in the public domain.
WITH the 1976 and 1998 extensions, anything published TODAY will not revert to the public domain until 2091. Or maybe 2141. Or possibly even as far out as 2161.
Keep that in mind when you argue that "Private companies can do what they want!" In these cases, the only reason they can do what they want is due to copyright law. That is the federal government promising to use the threat of force on behalf of Disney.
All to keep people from making copies of "The Aristocrats" for five or six generations. Well - for now, I mean. Who knows how long it will be in the future?
At this rate, I suspect we won't see "Dumbo" free of copyright until... well. Until an elephant can fly.