Digital Media

In my research, I read that Disney could possibly have to forfeit their copyright to Mickey Mouse due to copyright laws in 2023, because of limitations placed on how long a work can be copyright, 56 years, which seems long, but Disney already had to lobby for an extension and will have to again in 2023. The time limit seems unnecessary. Another major issue is the vague, yet complexly worded and lengthy nature of copyright rules. The line becomes hard to draw in cases such as borrowing sections of work from a copyrighted source to convey a new entirely different meaning, when the vague concept of fair use comes into play. It's perhaps too simple to download information such as pictures from the web that are copyrighted but not protected in any way from underground online distribution. Some apps have installed measures for protection, such as YT's effective algorithm to monitor all uploaded content to check if there is copyrighted footage or sound before uploading. Perhaps the technology needs to improve when it comes to a "read me"-esque file type that restricts downloads or alterations even when downloaded on a computer. Perhaps these files should contain information about the creator and be opened in a specific government application that streamlines filing for permission to use within 24 hours if that's possible. However, while this would help owners of copyright material, it would likely hurt creators, as it would become increasingly difficult to find existing content to use and with the laws of fair use as vague as they are now, the app would likely air on the side of caution and unnecessarily prevent the use of an insignificant portion of a copyrighted clip - the quality of the YT videos often with montaged footage would definitely decrease. This approach does seem to border on communism and work directly against our country's founding principle of liberty.