I was really interested in Mr.Hardin's lecture concerning the Sonny Bono Act(Mickey Mouse Protection Act), which extended the term of copyright an additional 20 years. Disney told Bono that since it was almost 50 years since Walt Disney's death, their characters were about to go into public domain, which would mean that Disney would lose their rights to their characters. He helped out by extending copyright 20 years. In 2018 Disney's characters will run the risk of becoming public domain again.
I can see the benefits of these characters becoming public domain as well as the harm. In support of these characters becoming public domain, I can see why the American people would want these beloved cartoon characters to use as their own. And by 2018, Mr.Disney will have been dead for 70 years! On the flip side, Disney's characters have become icons, and losing control over the use of these icons could be very damaging to the company, especially monetarily, since people would be allowed to use their characters on merchandise!
I am curious to see the outcome of this unusual copyright dilemma in the year 2018!