Rant: Tread Lightly on Mickey - Think about the Real Message

Anti-Disney Protest Scheduled for ALA Conference [info-commons blog]

I posted comments at info-commons blog on the anti-Disney protest planned during the annual American Libraries Association conference. I paste them in here:
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I hope the message doesn't get muddled. There are lots of people like me who love Mickey. I bet most of Florida will come to his defense.

I'd hate to see the message sound like librarians are putting their limited free time into bringing the Mouse into the public domain. We're already seen by some as porn-pushers, privacy freaks (at expense of terrorism) and this protest, if not planned carefully, could help our growing reputation as pirates.

None of these characterizations are at all fair - it's just that the opposition messages are simpler to enunciate than the nuanced messages we try to get across. Filters overblock, the Patriot Act sweeps away too many civil liberties and copyright owners have pushed content protection way off balance.

The extra 20 years tacked on by the CTEA protects not just the mouse but all the good stuff in library/museum collections, that could be shared with the world.

[WIN/WIN] The Public Domain Enhancement Act is a great solution - a $1 fee after fifty years that is no real burden for commercial property owners, yet releases the unclaimed works into the public domain where they belong.

Is it possible to spend some time working carefully on the message - not Free the Mouse, but something that really shows that it's the Mouse coattails that we care about?
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Additional comment - trademark law protects Mickey already. I doubt this argument will get too far since Disney spent big bucks to get CTEA. Just something to think about when drawing a careful line that can be pro-library yet not so anti-Mickey.

At the very least - target Disney, not the beloved icon. Librarians can't afford to lose any more credibility.

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Update: discussion continues at info-commons.blog

Comments

[Michael]

Poor Mickey. He's rather old for a mouse and must be tired of carrying the burdens of the whole corporation. Old Mickey certainly produces a lot of employment in these here parts, and the jobs don't pay Walmart wages. You won't find any marches against him by the many folks who work in the movie biz here in Los Angeles. And I don't suppose they'd give a care who owns the rights to the mouse, or to the Seven Height-challenged guys, or abused child Cinderella. In L.A., Disney and the rest of the entertainment business have saved us from the fate the failure of the aerospace industry might have wrought. I register my protest against the idiocies of the movies by not attending, but I'm glad somebody goes, because it keeps the library lights burning in Burbank, which is also home to NBC. We still have them studios here, you know. I don't expect Disney to bring about the victory of the proletariat-- just to keep those paychecks coming in L.A. County. By the way, the studio union locals aren't going to pick up signs over this, either.

Michael "Jobs Before Blather" McGrorty

[Eli]

One thing that I'd like to emphasize is that while there was talk at Midwinter of doing a "Free Mickey" demo that would have focused just on copyright and public domain concerns, that seems to have fallen to the wayside. Ann's and Jenna's decision to do this was largely motivated by Eisner's refusal to allow Disney to distribute "Fahrenheit 911". I agree with many of the comments made here, but I know that copyright is just one of three issues and it may be the hardest to escapsulate into a tidy soundbite or 150-word flyer.

Not to pass the buck or anything, but perhaps these issues can be raised in a more substantive way during the Cultural Democracy panel on Sunday, where Rick will be talking about libraries and the commons, and the filmmaker who produced "Willful Infringements" will be talking about copyright barriers in independent film.

[Raizel]

I agree that the focus should be "orphan" works -- rather than the evils of the mouse. However, it makes sense that Disney would be the focal point of the debate.

Perhaps organizers could focus on works that would have been in the public domain but aren't (and are not trademarks as well!) -- due to copyright extentions, such as the Winnie-the-Pooh works, some of the Anne of Green Gables books, almost the entirety of Agatha Christie, etc. Maybe with the dates that these works would have entered the public domain under the old system: http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm and the new one:
http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm

[Walt Crawford]

I lay down a gauntlet? Didn't realize that. Thought I just made an idle comment.

With Eli involved, there's good reason to believe that an appropriate message will be involved...she's not a "my way or the highway" zealot, not by a long shot.

I doubt that I'll be at the demonstration or whatever, but it will be interesting to see what emerges.

[Jack Stephens]

Librarians can't afford to lose any more credibility.

John N. Berry said that librarians' defiance of Americans' continued support for the USA Patriot Act had "brought a dramatic increase in respect for the profession," etc., etc.

What went wrong?

[Mary]

oh.. thanks Eli. I figured a protest would be aimed at getting media coverage. If there's no media there, you could even have fun with the hat! Raising library worker awareness is a great thing to do.

Mary

[Eli]

I had a long, thoughtful reply to these concerns, along with my perspective of this action, but the browser ate them.

The 20-second version: my personal goal is 'to preach to the choir' and get more library workers aware of the issues surrounding copyright as it stands ... pointing out Disney's considerable role, particularly in regard to CTEA, seems appropriate to me, especially if done in an evocative and even humourous manner that accurately protrays the situation without demonizing or exaggerating the actions or outcomes of the participants. It's not about getting people to turn against Mickey Mouse or Disney itself, but to illustrate one set of actions and the deleterious effects on what's referred to as the information commons.

Okay, that was the 45-second version ...

[Jason Griffey]

The sad truth of the matter is that the protest shouldn't be aimed at Disney at all. Disney does what Disney SHOULD do...maximize the profit of its shareholders. The real issue is that the public isn't aware of the shrapnel from Disney's actions. I think my position on copyright should be pretty clear, so I'm no lover of the extensions. But the protest won't really do much until the American public sees that it is getting the short end of any stick when it comes to intellectual property and major corporations.

That said, I'm sorry I'm missing it! Hand out a flyer for me, Eli!

[Mary]

Thanks, Walt and Rick for weighing in. I believe Rick put it well - my misgivings are strategic too. The last thing the library world needs are headlines that say "Librarians protest Mickey Mouse."

Walt - thanks for laying down the gauntlet to the organizers.

Eli! It's great that you're listening. Enjoy your new hat, but not in front of the media. It's one thing to give a long interview describing the issues. The quick takeaway though should not be anything that could be interpreted as insanely out-of-touch librarians who want to take away Orlando's major source of revenue and even worse, turn Mickey into a derivative. (Porn Mickey?)

Focus on the actual sympathetic cause - orphan works. The poor orphans should be freed to promote the progress of science and useful arts. That's where we can gain popular support, the key to getting legislative support.

By the way, I happened to go to a Disney-sponsored lunch for booksellers last week at BookExpo that showed pre-previews of upcoming films (The Incredibles, the Pooh's Heffalump Movie - both thoroughly delightful). It was, however unnerving the way each was described as a "property" not a story. The specifics on QSR (quick service restaurants) and other marketing outlets was the major focus of the presentation, along with pride in their double-digit profit margins. I'm not sure what Service Disney Style offers to libraries.

Let me be clear in my message - I'm not defending Disney, and substantive articles on the issue are useful. I'm saying it's a big loser for librarians to attack the most sympathetic mouse in the world, Mickey (and perhaps even Disney) when limited to a paragraph or so.

Since you have multiple issues you can address, leave Mickey out of it.

[Eli]

Actually, I'm kinda involved in this ... so, I'm listening, at least.

I'm writing the copy for the flyer that pertains to Disney and CTEA. And while there is a little poking at Disney's zealousness to protect its intellectual property, the focus is that while Disney is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to influence Congress to protect its characters, its self-interest is resulting the loss of existing works, as well as potential derivative ones far below the scope of even such a large and powerful cultural creator. And while it will probably be in Disney's interest to again approach Congress for another extension, our cultural and educational landscape will further suffer if it happens again.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), this sentiment must be encapsulated in just a couple of paragraphs on a single piece of paper that will address other issues involving Disney. I'm not very persuasive when it comes to polemics, so I can't say what the final result will look like, but the emphasis will not simply be 'Free Mickey' (although I do look forward to showing off my new hat that has exactly that phrase).

[Frederick Emrich]

I think you've made some excellent points here, Mary. It's important to clarify what's really at stake--and it isn't the Mouse. It is also likely the protesters will have difficulty overcoming the warm and fuzzy feelings many people have for Disney characters.

Even if the protest were just about the public domain, that would be a very complicated issue to try to explain through a demonstration.
This one takes on even more, however, with the Miramax distribution issue and the issue of libraries adopting a Disney organizational model. I think I am reasonably informed about all those issues and I can't forsee how a demonstration would deal adequately with one of them, never mind all three.

Still, my misgivings are primarily strategic. For the most part I think the concerns behind the protest are valid and important, even if I might not have approached them in quite the same way.

[Walt Crawford]

Good comment, but I'm guessing the protest organizers won't pay much attention. Too bad.

Too many of us--myself included--oversimplify and generalize, hoping to achieve a clear message but at the expense of actual clarity.

[And I'm a little too familiar with the attitude of some "clear thinkers": If you disagree with 5% of their message, you're an enemy.]