I’m with Sal. This kind of blatant commercial promo on U.S. postage stamps really annoys me.
The Little Mermaid, Bambi, Thumper etc. are Disney property, still making money for the company as we speak, zealously protected by Disney’s legions of lawyers against copyright infringement, and under copyrights that have been indefinitely extended - thanks to Congress’s eagerness to help Disney and other studios make an end-run around the Constitution’s provision “securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” (Art. I, Sec. 8, cl. 8).
The subjects depicted on U.S. postage stamps should be of national significance or of broad public interest, and not financially benefit any particular individual or for-profit company, IMHO.
I have no problem with the USPS doing this. To say they shouldn’t, well as other people have pointed out, they’re a not-for-profit. They have to raise their own money. I work in a not-for-profit, and I know how tenuous it is.
And yet I can still send a letter to India for only $0.80. That’s 7,000 miles, that is.
Nope, they should do whatever it takes to keep them in business.
It should be noted that even though the Disney series was only supposed to last 3 years, the USPS has announced its 5th (and they claim final) installment for next year.
The Blocks of 4/Sheets of 20
2004: Pinocchio, Bambi, The Lion King, Mickey w/Donald & Goofy
2005: Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, Mickey w/Pluto
2006: Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, Beauty and the Beast, Mickey w/Minnie
2007: Dumbo, Peter Pan, Aladdin, Mickey in Fantasia
2008: Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, Mickey in Steamboat Willie
Funny, I’d’ve said the same thing about Sinatra. But, unfortunetly, the public at large steadfastly refuses to perfectly mirror my personal preferences. Disney’s The Little Mermaid is almost 20 years old: it came out in '89. And, as you note, it continues to move merchandise. You might not like the movie, but it’s difficult to argue that it’s not already a strong contender for iconic status. It was the first salvo in the “Disney Renaissance,” a period that saw Disney release movie after movie to enormous popular and critical success, a period unparralled in that company’s history since it’s original hayday under Walt himself. From a cultural standpoint, The Little Mermaid is arguably as important as Snow White. And Snow White ain’t going anywhere in fifty years.
I’m not going to get twisted about Disney icons on stamps. I haven’t bought any, but I have bought a plate of Marvel Comics stamps. And I think that Bugs and Daffy have had their turn. I like cartoons and think it’s great that cartoons are being given their cultural props.
I believe the government itself cannot copyright anything. Does this include the Post Office?
Obviously, counterfeiting a stamp is illegal, but what if I scanned a stamp and photoshopped out the markings that make it a stamp? Would I then have a public domain image, that I could use freely?
(Could I do the same think with images on currency?)
Bob, this was a well-thought-out and -expressed post generally, on the virtues of public commemoration. I’d like to nitpick one thing: there is one other general exception to the 10 year rule: The year after the death of a former U.S. President, a commemorative honoring his life is, or at least may be and usually is, issued. I believe the date of issue is often set for the late President’s birthday, but I don’t have a cite.
Someone linked to the rules on who may be depicted on a stamp and when a year or two ago, but I was not able to locate them in a quick Google.
Interesting that there’s a UPS truck in the background of that photo. Coincidentally, that highlights one of the forces that the USPS is up against. They didn’t used to have competitors; now they do. Lurking right there in the background, ready to take USPS’s business.
I don’t object. I suppose I wouldn’t care even if I didn’t believe that the reason they do it is to help sell stamps. Collectors buy whole pages of stamps and don’t use them. I don’t know what they make from collectors, but as I said I believe it enough to justify allowing them to do it.
Philatelists are becoming increasingly brazen in flaunting their disgusting, perverted predilections and it’s high time decent people put a stop to it! :eek:
The R2D2 mailbox was (I presume) painted that way to advertise the USPS’s Star Wars Stamps. There have also been sheets of stamps with DC-comics and Marvel-Comics super-heroes. In short, Disney isn’t the only one.
Meh. The USPS offers stamps celebrating American cultural icons. Sometimes these are people (Elvis, Sinatra, etc.). Sometimes not. I wouldn’t object to a stamp commemorating the Model T Ford, even if Ford is a currently-existing corporation. Why should I object to a stamp commemorating Disney, which is equally iconic?
Besides, stamp collectors subsidize postal rates for the rest of us. I don’t mind the USPS pimping itself out if it means I pay a few cents less to mail something.
Stamps will be antiquated remnants of a bygone era, soon enough. The only things that will use snail mail will be parcel deliveries, which already don’t use regular stamps that often.