The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, also known as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act, was passed in 1998. It extended copyright terms in the U.S. by 20 additional years, 70 years after the author died for individual works and 95 years for corporate and anonymous works (source: US Copyright Office).

With this petition, we urge our legislators to consider the adverse effects of this act. It limits public access to creative works, stifles innovation, and impedes cultural progress by keeping many works under copyright protection far beyond the lifetime of the creator (source: Center for the Study of the Public Domain, Duke Law School). 

Disney kept extending copyright law until recently. We got a small victory when Steamboat Willie became public domain on January 1, 2024, and again on January 1, 2025, when more Mickey Mouse shorts and Popeye's first appearance became public domain. Not to mention in 2023 when the last of the Sherlock Holmes stories became public domain. We need more wins like this. 

We must balance the benefits of copyright - incentivizing creativity and providing income for creators - with the societal benefits of a rich and accessible public domain. Please join us in calling for reconsidering and potentially repealing the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Sign this petition, because culture should belong to us all.