Public Domain Day 2024

It’s the annual Public Domain Day: the day that a bunch of older works enter the public domain. This year, works published in 1928 enter the public domain. There’s no way around it: this year is completely about Mickey Mouse. Steamboat Willie, the first widely available appearance of Mickey Mouse, has fallen into the public domain.

But steer carefully. Only a very specific depiction of Mickey has fallen into the public domain.

This is a significant moment because not long ago Disney spent a lot of lobbying effort and money to avoid it. The Copyright Term Extension Act in 1998 was heavily supported by Disney specifically to avoid Mickey Mouse’s depiction in Steamboat Willie from falling into the public domain. They weren’t the only ones involved, but they were the most prominent proponent of the extension.

Other works have enter the public domain as well, including classic literary works like Lady Chatterley’s Lover and All Quiet on the Western Front. It also includes some of the finest examples of silent film in The Man Who Laughs and The Passion of Joan of Arc.

But one needs to be careful using Mickey Mouse in their own works, as Disney still has newer versions and uses of the character protected. Only the earliest Mickey Mouse of Steamboat Willie fame is in the public domain. Any newer depictions, including his gloves and newer design elements, remain copyrighted. To complicate things, Disney has a trademark on Mickey Mouse, meaning one cannot slap him on merchandise if that leads a consumer into believing the merchandise was made by Disney.

But what one can do is distribute Steamboat Willie and make new art that depicts the characters in that fashion. Just make sure those Steamboat sequels don’t include modern Mickey, and get legal advice before selling specific merchandise.

Happy New Year and Happy Public Domain Day from the Law Firm of Dillon McCarthy!

What is a "Last, Best, and Final Offer"?

In the ongoing negotiations between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA, the studios have presented their “last, best, and final offer” to SAG. But this is the second time that they have offered one. If the last, best, and final offers are neither last, best, nor final, then what are they?

The last, best, and final offer is part labor law term-of-art and part negotiating tactic. From the business point of view, they are presented as the final terms that an employer is willing to give to a union. But just because a business states that does not make it so. Businesses have a legal obligation to negotiate with properly recognized unions. For the most part, they may not unilaterally impose a new union contract.

So then what is the point of declaring an offer last, best, and final? While businesses have an obligation to negotiate in good faith with unions, it is possible that negotiations reach an impasse. A bargaining impasse is defined by the National Labor Relations Board as a point in negotiations where further negotiation would be futile. It is not easy to declare an impasse, and efforts by negotiating businesses to do so often result in lengthy court battles. Whether a legitimate impasse exists depends on a number of factors, including the issues in dispute, length of negotiations, and the history between the union and company.

If there is an actual impasse, the business or businesses may impose the terms of their “last, best, and final offer”, provided the terms were made in good faith. In practice, this rarely happens. Given the importance of the remaining conflicts and the length of the current strike, it’s unlikely to happen with the last, best, and final offer presented by the AMPTP here. In practice, unions often treat these declarations as another simple counteroffer and keep negotiating.

So what is a “last, best, and final offer”? In theory, it’s the offer that the AMPTP would impose if they declared an impasse and won the inevitable court battles that would ensue. In practice, it’s mostly a negotiating tactic.

What's in the New WGA Contract?

The WGA strike is over, and assuming the membership ratifies it, there is a new agreement between the Writer’s Guild of America and the AMPTP, the studio’s collective bargaining representative. But what' does the new agreement say and what does it change in Hollywood?

Pay

The new contract includes a 5% immediate increase in the minimum pay for WGA members, with additional smaller increases in 2024 and 2025. Studio contribution to the Health and Pension Plan also increased 0.5%.

Residuals

Television has changed a lot since the last WGA deal, with most people watching via streaming services. This has cut into residuals. The new deal requires streamers to let WGA know some of their viewership numbers. Based on a number of factors including viewership, writers will now receive increased residuals payments for successful streaming projects.

Artificial Intelligence

Going in, this was one of the more uncertain avenues in the WGA’s conflict with the studios. No one knows exactly how AI will change the industry moving forward. What we do know is that, under this contract, AI cannot re-write a writer’s work. AI can also not receive writing credit, something that many worried the studios would do, having AI write a treatment, calling the author’s contributions a re-write, and using that as an excuse to credit and pay them less.

A writer may use AI themselves in developing material, but cannot be required to do so.

Writer’s Rooms

Shows now have to employ more writers, based on the length of the season, and for longer. This excludes shows written entirely by one person.

The deal is more than 90 pages long, so this doesn’t cover everything. But it hits on the primary points of conflict that led to the strike in the first place. If you are a writer in need of legal representation, reach out to The Law Firm of Dillon McCarthy, and best of luck getting back to work.