Skip to main content area
Mental Floss
Magazine Cover Get a RISK-FREE issue Give a Gift iPad Subscription

Main menu

  • Amazing Facts
  • Big Questions
  • Knowledge Feed
  • LIsts
  • Quizzes
  • Subscribe
  • Store

Karl Smallwood

Karl Smallwood

@

Karl is a British theoretical media graduate trying to make it in the world as a writer. If you're reading this, he's probably not doing half bad. To see his work, Google him.

articles

Why Isn't Mickey Mouse in the Public Domain?

Image from the Patent and Trademark Museum. Roger Richards/The Washington Times/Landov From his humble beginnings as a steamboat stowaway to his current gig as the Magic Kingdom’s most famous resident, Mickey Mouse has worked a lot of jobs. He even moonlights as the poster rodent for copyright protection. In 1998, Mickey scampered to Capitol Hill when a bill proposing a 20-year extension of U.S. copyright limits was brought before the Senate. Under the planned revisions, corporations (for example:... READ ON

Subscribe to Author Articles

Daily Floss

Morning Cup of Links

Hide-and-Seek Cats

5 Questions

5 Questions: Yoga Poses

Brain Game

Teeming with Teams

Lunchtime Quiz

Troy McClure Film or Actual Terrible Movie?

France's last execution via guillotine was in 1977.

Hit me with the next fact

brilliant questions from you!

When and Why Did People Start Saying "Um"?
>
What Did Grover Cleveland Do Between Terms?
>
Why Aren't There B Batteries?
>
SUBMIT A QUESTION

we want your answers!

What's Your Dream Board on Jeopardy?
What Museums Should Everyone Visit at Least Once?

water cooler ammo

SIGN UP NOW
for our daily newsletter with exclusive nuggets of information guaranteed to amaze your coworkers and friends!
  • © 2012 Mental Floss
  • About
  • RSS
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Store
  • Give a Gift
  • iPad
  • Subscriber Services
  • Giveaways
  • Back Issues
Share to Facebook Share to Twitter
DID YOU KNOW? Marlon Brando hated memorizing lines so much that he posted cue cards everywhere to help him get through scenes. He even asked for lines to be written on an actress's posterior. (That request was denied.)