All language subtitles for Last.Week.Tonight.with.John.Oliver.S10E06.April.2.2023.Solitary.Confinement.1080p.HMAX.WEB-DL.DD2.0.H.264-playWEB_track4_[eng]

Welcome to "Last Week Tonight" !

I'm John Oliver,
thank you so much for joining us.

I know I normally say
it's been a busy week,

but to be honest,
this one's been a bit slow.

A new study
suggested that T-rexes had lips,

"The Young and the Restless"
celebrated 50 years on television,

Donald Trump
became the first-ever former president

to be indicted on criminal charges,

and a photo of the Pope
wearing a big, poofy jacket

went viral
before it was revealed to be fake.

So, pretty quiet in general.

I would talk more
about the Trump indictment

if we even knew what the exact charges
were right now, but we don't.

So, instead,
let's start with France.

Europe's high school bully.
For weeks, France has been in turmoil.

Fires across France.

One protester telling us,
"This is a war."

Hundreds of thousands
taking to the streets.

The historic unrest sparked
by President Macron's plan

to raise the retirement age
from 62 to 64,

ramming the measures through his
country's legislature without a vote.

In Paris, where bins and
newspaper kiosks have been set alight,

some firefighters
put out the flames.

Others joined in
with the protestors.

It's true. People are so pissed
at what Macron's been doing,

that firefighters have started
siding with fire instead of him.

And it's honestly
kind of jarring to see fires in Paris

that were started by something
other than their usual cause:

the explosive heat generated

by Ina and Jeffrey's relentless fucking
at their Parisian apartment.

Macron claims
that without this move,

which he's pushed through
without a vote,

the government
will accrue massive debts.

But his opponents argue that pension
funding can come from other sources,

like raising taxes on the wealthy.

And look, a retirement age
of 62 is low,

even by the standards
of Western nations.

In Germany,
the comparable retirement age is 65.

In Italy, it's 67. And in the U.S.,
the retirement age is "no".

So, France is lucky to have the kind
of bold social welfare policy

that's getting rarer nowadays.

But that is probably why they
are fighting so hard to protect it.

And these protests have brought out
moments quintessentially French.

Take a look
at this viral video from France.

Diners in the city of Bordeaux
unfazed by demonstrators

protesting against recent changes
to the retirement age.

Even with a raging fire nearby,
these people are still managing

to enjoy their wine and conversation
at an outdoor cafe.

That is on-brand.

I think it is safe to say
that after a nuclear holocaust,

the only creatures left standing
will be cockroaches

and an outlandishly relaxed,
wine-sipping French couple

entirely unfazed
by the obliteration of society.

And the protestors themselves

have sometimes bordered
on magnificent self-parody.

Retirement, climate,
the same fight !

No retirement
on a scorched planet !

Retirement, climate,
the same fight !

No retirement
on a scorched planet !

Retirement, climate,
the same fight !

Holy shit.
Someone call "un ambulance".

I think I just overdosed
on Frenchness.

That's honestly intimidating
for me to watch,

because she's doing
everything that I can't do there:

dance, look cool in sunglasses,
and rock bangs,

literally nothing she's doing
will ever be possible for me,

and it makes me a little sad.

France's constitutional council

is expected to rule
on Macron's plan on April 14th.

But he doesn't appear willing
to back down in the meantime,

as even the one concession
his government made to protestors

was pretty insulting.

The government's
agreed to dialogue,

but not any kind of dialogue
about doing a U-turn on the policy.

That, they say,
is simply not going to happen.

Hold on, "We're open to a dialogue,
just not the kind you want".

So, what would you
even talk about then ?

"Thank you, protestors,
for agreeing to meet with me."

"Do you think soup and stew
are different things ?"

"Or maybe no ?"

The point is: Macron may need
to rethink his strategy here.

Because these protestors aren't going
to back down any time soon.

The French people are going to keep
fighting for their quality of life.

And if this week
is any indication,

they're going to continue looking
pretty fucking cool while they do it.

And now, this !

And now...

The Last Remaining Sliver of Morality
in Tucker Carlson's Head

Tries to Give Him Some Advice.

The left doesn't want
to answer questions like that.

Or even have the conversation.
Shut up, racist !

Instead, they just declare
that the current system is great.

Nobody wants to have that debate.
Shut up, racist !

Crazy people, what are you teaching
my children ? Shut up, racist !

Your opinion is dangerous.
Shut up, racist !

In other words, shut up, racist.

Shut up, racist !
Another one. Shut up, racist.

And there's more
where that came from.

Shut up, racist !

Shut up, racist !

Diversity ! Racism ! Diversity !
Racism ! Shut up ! Shut up !

Shut up, racist !

Shut up, racist !

Shut up, racist ! Okay !

Moving on.

Our main story tonight
concerns solitary confinement.

A punishment inflicted
on prisoners, pet goldfish,

and of course,
Lance Armstrong's remaining testicle.

It's in there all by itself !
It must be so lonely.

Most of us have a general idea
of what solitary confinement is,

although, as this
TikTok interview demonstrates,

others seem a little unsure.

In solitary confinement,
how many prisoners are in each cell ?

One.

Wait... That means he's alone, right ?
Yeah, it's alone.

- One. It's gotta be one.
- I'm gonna go with one. One.

- Final answer.
- Yeah, that's right.

All right !

I'm glad they got it right,

but it did take them an alarming amount
of time to triple-team that answer,

although it did also give me a chance
to absorb every weird fashion choice.

Because you'd think the boldest one
would be this kid

wearing light blue Crocs
with a "Virginity Rocks" T-shirt,

but then you'd be ignoring that
this one is wearing hashtag shoes,

this one's outfit is somehow
both too formal and too casual,

and this one seemingly couldn't decide
if he was dressing for pool or golf,

so decided on both.

Very basically, every one
of these human red Solo cups

is dressed inexcusably wrong
in their own unique way.

I'm genuinely glad
they all found each other,

and I hope to never meet any of them
under any circumstances.

The point is, solitary confinement
is a common enough practice

that even those bros
basically know about it.

And the fact is, in this country,

facilities from jails and prisons
to immigration detention centers

isolate a massive number of people.

A 2016 government report
found that on any given day,

an estimated
90 000 inmates in prison and jail

are housed in isolation.

And that is almost certainly
an undercount,

given how poor
data collection on this is.

For how widespread
our use of solitary is,

some of those in charge
of our prison systems

have been weirdly ignorant
on the practicalities of it.

Take this amazing
exchange from 2014,

where then-Senator Al Franken

asked the then-head
of the Federal Bureau of Prisons

a pretty simple question.

How big is a cell ? How big
is the average cell in solitary ?

- You say the average size ?
- The size of the cell. How big is it ?

I'm trying to get... This is
a human thing we're talking about.

We've got a lot of statistics.
How big is the cell ?

The average size of a cell is...

I'm trying to... You're looking
for the space of what the...

Yes. The dimensions
in feet and inches.

The size of the cell
that a person is kept in.

I want to get some idea of...
I don't know...

Am I asking this wrong ?

No ! No, you are absolutely not !

And honestly,
I wish he'd kept going there.

"Clearly you're confused
by feet and inches.

How about meters ?
Or steps ?

If you stood
at one end of the cell,

how many steps would it take
to walk to the other end ?

No ? How many rabbits could you fit
on the floor of one of those cells ?

How many rabbits big is one cell ?
Am I asking this wrong ?

Because there are literally
no other ways to ask this question."

For the record,
the average size of a solitary cell

is six feet by nine feet,
which is way too small

for a person to be stuck in for days,
weeks, months, or even years on end.

That level of isolation
is why, in 2011,

the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on Torture

declared that "Considering
the severe pain and suffering

that solitary confinement can cause,
it can amount to torture."

They then called
on all countries to prohibit

"indefinite and prolonged solitary
confinement in excess of 15 days."

Which really is not asking that much,

but is also something that we in the
U.S. have, to put it mildly, not done.

Which is just appalling,
as solitary takes its toll on people

as someone who's actually
experienced it can tell you.

Ask yourself, can you live
in a bathroom for ten years ?

It's bad to lock an individual up
and just put him

in a room, closed, nothing to do.

It's... I guess
you could say, inhumane.

And I know, we're inmates, but,
excuse my language, it fucks me up.

Yeah, of course, it fucks you up.

Human beings are not meant
to sit in a bathroom for ten years,

with nothing to do,
you're thinking of retainers.

Those are the things
that we place into a bathroom

and fully neglect
for an entire decade.

Everybody knows that.

So, given how prevalent it is,
and how damaging it can be,

tonight, let's look
at solitary confinement.

And let's start
with the fact that it has its roots

in a somewhat
unexpected place.

It was introduced by the Quakers as
a noble experiment in rehabilitation.

There was a belief that you could put
a prisoner in his own solitary cell,

freed from the evil influences
of modern society.

And if you put them in that cell,
they would become like a penitent monk,

free to come close to God
and to their own inner being,

and they would naturally heal.

It's true. The whole idea
of solitary came from Quakers.

And on one hand,

it is not surprising that a form
of brutal torture and punishment

was invented by a religious group.

But on the other,
if you gave me 50 guesses

for which one invented locking people
in a small room alone

to feel guilty 24 hours a day,

I'd have guessed Catholics
50 times in a row.

Quakers thought that "prisoners
isolated in cells with a Bible

could use that time to reflect,
repent and eventually reform".

That is even where the term
"penitentiary" originated.

Which is a handy fun fact

if you ever want to quickly raise
a few red flags on a first date.

But by the mid-1800s,

the psychological harms
of isolation were becoming clear.

And by 1890, the Supreme Court
declared that solitary confinement

made prisoners,
quote, "violently insane".

After that, the practice was largely
abandoned until the 1980s,

when mass incarceration
led to prison overcrowding,

which in turn led
to a rise in prison violence.

And in an effort
to preserve order,

prison officials started ramping up
the use of solitary again.

And at this point,

it is worth looking at what
modern solitary actually consists of.

Generally, it involves isolating people
for 22 to 24 hours per day

in small cells,
with minimal contact with others,

and with little or no access
to reading materials, radio and TV.

And even if that is pretty much
what you assumed,

there are additional elements
to solitary that you might not expect,

like the fact that
"some cells are lit around-the-clock",

and there can be a near-constant sound
of banging, screaming, and moaning.

"Frontline" spent four months filming
in a solitary confinement unit

and released a video
just of the noise.

And here is just 20 seconds of it.

Holy shit !

How are you supposed to think
in there, let alone sleep ?

There is a reason people fall asleep
to sounds of the rainforest

and not sounds
of one of those haunted houses

where you have to sign
a waiver to get in.

So, a person can be stuck alone
in a cell for 23 hours a day or more,

with the soundtrack to "Stomp"
playing in the background.

And as this man will tell you,

filling that time
can take some real effort.

One of the things I did in solitary
to pass the time

was save my bread,
put it on the floor,

and let the mice
come in and eat it and play.

It was action.
It was something different.

Is it gross ? Yeah.
Disgusting, a little bit ? Sure.

Better than going insane ? Yeah.

Right, that makes sense,
doesn't it ?

Because it is a little disgusting.
But it is better than going insane.

Also, for what it's worth, I don't
think I understand what TikTok is.

I thought I did,
but I clearly don't.

I thought it was an app for teens
to do the same eight dance moves

that all involve this move,

so that the Chinese government
can spy on us.

I didn't know that frank discussions
of the conditions in prisons

were part of it too.

But that guy
wasn't kidding there.

Solitary can irreparably damage
people's minds.

Studies show
that some lasting mental damage

is caused after just a few days
of isolation.

And the effects can be even more acute
when children experience it.

Yeah, in case I forgot to mention,

we subject children to solitary
in this country, too.

Vicki Reed was shocked
by what we found

at the middle Tennessee juvenile
detention facility in Murray County.

We revealed juveniles
often spend 23 to 24 hours a day

locked inside their cells.

If a parent locks her kid in a closet
and leaves him there

and feeds him three times a day
and that's it,

we would call that child abuse.

Yeah, she's not wrong !

If I learned that someone was locking
children in a closet all day long,

I'd immediately say two things:

are those the children
from the Kars-4-Kids commercial ?

If so, thank you
for your service.

But if not,
then that's child abuse

and you need to stop
doing it immediately !

So, if it's this torturous
and permanently damaging,

why do we put people
in solitary ?

If you ask prison
or government officials,

the response that you'll often get
is "We actually don't".

And that is because we have
a lot of euphemisms for solitary,

like "segregation"
or "protective custody",

or referring to the cells
as "restricted housing units"

or "security housing units".

In Tennessee,

where that woman was outraged
that kids were being held in isolation,

officials there simply called it
"room restriction".

And here is New York
Mayor Eric Adams,

trying to make a similar type
of semantic distinction.

I am opposed
to solitary confinement.

That is a draconian way
to protect the city.

But what I am saying,
you can't be an inmate,

sexually assault a correction officer
or another inmate,

and then stay
in general population.

Punitive segregation is a humane way
of removing dangerous inmates

to a location where
they can get the services they need

so they can stop preying
on other inmates, staff,

and preying on society.

Yeah, Adams doesn't support
"solitary confinement"

but he's all in
for "punitive segregation",

an interesting distinction

considering that the New York
Board of Corrections' own website

says that punitive segregation is
"also known as solitary confinement".

So, that's a pretty weird
stance to take.

Although it probably
shouldn't be surprising

that Eric Adams did
or said something weird.

This is the same man
who once told a reporter

that "New York sits on a store
of rare gems and stones",

which is why "there's a special
energy that comes from here",

insisted on taking his first paycheck
as mayor in crypto,

deliberately posed for this photo,

and has repeatedly held up
a sponge on stage

to encourage people to "wring out"
their internal despair,

answering the question "What if
Mr. Clean was a motivational speaker ?"

But the fact is,
whatever you call solitary,

the experience for the person
going through it is the same.

And corrections officers will often
justify the use of it by arguing,

as Adams just did,
that it is a necessary tool

to isolate wrongdoers
and preserve order.

Here is the head of the New York City
corrections officers' union,

making that exact point.

We have to be able
to segregate those people

because if we have a society
without consequences,

then we'll just have
total anarchy.

Isn't the problem that many
of those in solitary

are not the really
dangerous criminals ?

They're people who've broken
minor rules or are suicidal ?

That's just not the case.

Minor infractions, people do not end up
in soli... in punitive segregation.

First, good catch !

You almost called it
"solitary confinement" there,

a near-miss on par
with having a mustache

that almost makes you look like
a John Waters impersonator.

But second, the claim that

"people don't end up in solitary
for minor infractions"

is just not true.

In general, researchers have found
that violence is typically

not the most common reason
that people are sent to solitary.

In Oregon, researchers
once found that disobedience

was the infraction resulting in the
most solitary confinement sanctions.

And nationwide, people have been sent
to solitary for reasons including,

and these are all real,
not making their bed,

"using Facebook"
and having "too many envelopes".

And as this formerly
incarcerated man will tell you,

the list doesn't stop there.

I've seen people go to solitary
for things

as little as handing
other people stuff,

having too many cigarettes
in their pocket.

I've seen people
go to solitary for talking back.

I've seen people go to solitary
for not having their shirt tucked in.

I've seen people go to solitary for
not having the right shoes in the gym.

I've seen people go to the box
for a lot of stuff, bro.

That is ridiculous !

Solitary should not be where we send
people who are dressing incorrectly.

If it were, I can think of four people
who'd be in there right now,

instead, they're walking around free,
struggling to answer basic questions.

So, the truth is,
petty rule infractions

are a very common cause
of landing people in solitary,

and that is not all.

People who are seen as "at risk"
in the general prison population,

because they are young,
mentally ill,

intellectually disabled,
gay, or transgender,

can wind up in there
"for their own protection".

And think about how absurd
that logic is,

"The only way we can keep you safe
is to inflict enormous harm on you".

It's like arguing,

"The only way to keep you
hydrated is to waterboard you".

One, it isn't.
So, two, find another fucking way.

And if you're thinking
"What if someone actually is

a potential threat
to inmates or guards ?

Shouldn't they then be getting
locked up in solitary ?"

You should know
that a 2016 report

found that there is little evidence
that administrative segregation

has had any effects

on overall levels of violence
in correctional facilities.

In fact, some research has found
subjecting people to solitary

"can lead them to become
more, not less, violent".

And that can obviously be a problem,
not just inside prisons,

but also,
after people are released.

Even those who have worked within
prisons, like this former warden,

will tell you how counterproductive
our current system is.

IfI have somebody that comes in
with a five-year commitment,

you can have them do
their whole time in segregation,

but I don't want him living
next to me when we release him.

The reality is, 80% of these inmates
are going to be hitting the street.

So, we can either
make them worse,

and create more victims
when they go on the street,

or we can rehabilitate them.

Right, and when you frame it
as a choice like that,

it is hard to pick
solitary confinement.

It's like saying, "For dinner tonight,
we can either get pizza,

or we could assassinate
Paul McCartney."

One of those choices
makes sense,

and the other is absolutely
horrible for everyone on Earth.

And just to be clear,

this isn't to say that people who've
committed violent acts in prison

should just be left in the general
population to potentially harm others.

They can be separated
without being completely isolated.

Take North Dakota.

Their state prison officials
made the bold decision

to end the use of solitary there,
but in doing so,

to also create
a less hostile atmosphere overall.

So, when prisoners got in trouble
for serious infractions like violence,

instead of solitary,
they were sent to a brand new unit,

where they'd get
significant out-of-cell time,

and access
to behavioral treatment.

And it has had
promising results.

Jerry Holmes was just released,
in September,

from the new behavioral
health intervention unit, or BIU.

Mindset, 100 percent better.

'Cause you're just
not crammed up in a hole,

like coming out of the box.

Brandon Davis has spent time in the old
administrative segregation unit,

or ASU, and the new BIU.

He says the biggest difference
is just having someone to talk to.

They have interaction and counseling
to work toward a solution.

Because if you bottle
in your issues,

it just overwhelms the person.

'Cause I have my own problems,

and when you're isolated
and you have these issues,

you have nowhere to release them,
or no one to talk to them about.

Of course. You don't have
to have been in solitary

to understand that talking
through your issues with other people

is probably better for you than being
locked up in a concrete toilet cave.

I'm not saying
that any of this is easy.

I know that the solution
should be simple here.

Putting people in solitary is torture,
so let's stop doing it.

But exactly how we do that
is absolutely critical

to any reform
actually working.

Unfortunately, in multiple states,

when they've taken steps
to limit the use of solitary,

corrections officials
have found ways around them

by doing things
like keeping prisoners isolated

for just below the threshold
set by the states,

or creating even more euphemisms
to camouflage the practice.

One key reason
that North Dakota's reforms worked

is because they came from people
running the corrections system there.

They understood
that reducing the use of solitary

required a shift in the whole culture
of their prisons,

and they did have to get rid of staff
who weren't on board with the idea,

so that it could be
executed properly.

And while it was not easy,
there was an initial rise in violence

in the prison's general population
immediately afterward,

they stuck with it,

and not only has the overall trend
in violence been downward,

but "both incarcerated persons
and staff members

reported improvements
in their health and well-being",

better interactions
with one another,

and "less exposure to violence
following the reforms".

So, it can be done,
if we want to.

And I know
that some corrections officials

will still insist
that they need solitary.

But I would argue that,
if you find yourself making the case

that you need to torture people
to keep your facility safe,

that in itself is an admission
of catastrophic failure,

and you may need to go.

It is important to remember just
how lasting the damage here can be.

The voices in this debate are often
dominated by corrections officials,

but it is worth listening,
at length,

to the people
who've been harmed by this.

Anthony Graves was kept
in solitary for 18 years,

after being wrongly convicted.

And just listen to him testify before
Congress about what it did to him.

I have been free
for almost two years

and I still cry at night

because no one out here can relate
to what I've gone through.

I battle with these feelings
of loneliness.

I've tried therapy,
but it didn't work.

The therapist
was crying more than me.

She could not imagine

how inhumanely
our system was treating people.

I haven't had a good night's sleep
since I've been out.

I only sleep about two and a half
to three hours at night,

and then I'm up.

My body
has not made the adjustment.

I have mood swings that just causes
emotional breakdowns.

I don't know where they come from,
they just come out of nowhere.

Solitary confinement makes
our criminal justice system criminal.

He's right.

Solitary isn't something we do
to people behind bars,

it's something we do
to them forever.

It needs to be universally understood
how utterly indefensible it is.

So that maybe,
just maybe one day in the future,

we can get to a point where,
even if you approached

the worst-dressed bros on the street
of any American city and asked them

"The acceptable number of people
to have in solitary confinement",

the answer they'd come up with,
with no hesitation, is fucking zero.

And now, this.

And Now...

Nobody Reports the News
Like Fox 26's Isiah Carey.

Welcome back to the second half-hour
of "The Factor: Uncensored",

There really may be a thing
as too much damn ass.

Inflation continues to hit
every corner of business sectors,

even the damn strip club.

One man in New York
has dropped his drawers

and pulled out the pipe
to make sure you know he is coming...

Coming, or at least
running for office.

A woman's sex toy story
has gone viral.

She told all of TikTok

about how she stuck a vibrator
so far up her backside

that she couldn't get it out.

To thirsty-ass thieves
who will steal wet out of water

to get
what their broke asses want.

This is a kind of filthy thief
that needs his ass kicked.

We've all heard
about sugar daddies, right ?

But you've probably never heard
of Splenda daddies.

Listen up, everyone.

Marriage does not automatically
grant you sex.

Learn that !

Moving on.

Finally, tonight, I want to talk
about intellectual property law.

It is the reason why your unlicensed
Halloween costume of Oscar the Grouch

is called something like
"Cranky Trash Pervert".

And before we go any further,

I want to show you the trailer
for a recent horror movie.

And if you haven't seen it, let's say
it has a somewhat unexpected villain.

Christopher, we need to leave !
Now !

I really need to find out
what's happened here, okay ?

Yes. Everything
about that is disturbing,

including that Winnie the Pooh
in this movie

looks like someone
shaved and bleached The Grinch.

Also, why does he have to be
the bad guy ?

Any of the other characters would
have made much more sense as a killer.

Piglet ? Inferiority complex.
Ticking time bomb.

Tigger ? Fast. Powerful. Unhinged.
Rabbit ? Twisted control freak.

Eeyore ? Don't get me started.
He's been kicked around for decades.

When Eeyore snaps,
none of us are safe.

Unsurprisingly, not everyone was
on board with this movie's concept.

That is awful, they can't turn
Winnie the Pooh into a horror film.

That'd be terrifying,
wouldn't it ?

I'm used to him being, like,
a cute little bear in the woods,

not a criminal.

Right, Winnie the Pooh
is cuddly and fun.

He's an important role model
for woodland bears,

especially now, when they have
so many really bad ones.

That movie hasn't been crushed
under the force of a thousand lawsuits

because in January of last year,

the original copyright
on Winnie the Pooh expired.

Meaning that anyone in the U.S.

Can now freely use the characters
from the original book,

without having to pay
or ask permission.

But it turns out,
Winnie the Pooh

isn't actually the only major
character, owned by Disney,

on the precipice
of entering the public domain.

Disney could soon lose its exclusive
rights to its most iconic character.

The copyright for Mickey Mouse
is set to expire in 2024,

95 years
after its first publication.

It's true ! Mickey Mouse will soon
be public property in the U.S.,

which is a big deal,

because his copyright is a
closely-guarded corporate treasure,

like the formula to Coca-Cola,
or the 11 herbs and spices,

or where McDonald's buried
the body of Mayor McCheese.

Disney's been wildly aggressive
in defending its copyrights,

at one point,
telling a stonemason that

"carving Winnie the Pooh into a child's
gravestone would violate its copyright"

before ultimately relenting,
leading to the exceptional headline,

"Disney lifts Pooh bear
grave ban".

So, congrats, Disney !

You really came off
as the good guy in the end there.

But that is not all,
because in 1989, they did this.

Disney lawyers have taken aim
at this Florida day care center,

saying it has no right to use
Disney characters on its walls.

Kids and parents here
at Very Important Babies

don't want to lose Mickey.

I'll feel sad a lot.

- If they took Mickey down ? Why ?
- Because I like him.

Don't worry, buddy !
No one's taking Mickey away.

They're just going
to paint over him.

So, he'll still be there,
invisible to you,

trapped under a thin layer of paint,
tantalizingly close,

but permanently alone,
in a sort of liminal undeath.

Now, run along and play !

He's watching you all the time,
you very important baby !

Disney has been desperate not to see
its copyright on Mickey expire.

It was actually supposed
to do so in the early 2000s,

but Disney, among others,

successfully lobbied Congress
to extend it another 20 years,

in a bill that was even
nicknamed at the time

"the Mickey Mouse
Protection Act".

And the truth is,
even after this new deadline expires,

Disney may still be able to go
after anyone using Mickey's likeness.

Only one version of the character
is about to become fair game.

Keep in mind !
Only the very first version of Mickey

is the one that will be
stripped of its copyright.

That's the 1928 black-and-white version
where Mickey's on the steamboat,

and back then Mickey
looked more rat-like.

Disney will retain its copyright
on any subsequent variations

and other films or artwork
until they reach the 95-year mark.

She's right. The U.S. copyright
is only set to expire for the original

"Steamboat Willie" version
of Mickey.

Disney's copyright
still applies to the later versions

in which Mickey gives off
strong Diane Keaton vibes,

by which I mean he's uncontrollably
horny while wearing gloves.

On top of which, Disney has registered
trademarks related to Mickey,

which don't expire.

Some have speculated
that that might be

why Disney redesigned
its animation studios opening logo

to incorporate
the "Steamboat Willie" Mickey Mouse.

And it does feel
like a tactical legal move.

They may argue
that this early Mickey's image

is so closely associated
with their company

that people will automatically assume
that any image of him

was produced or authorized by them,
and still take legal action.

The fact is, anyone wanting to use
the "Steamboat Willie" Mickey Mouse

will probably still be taking a risk.

But if you know anything
about this show by now,

you know we do like to take a risk
every now and then.

And there's a lot to be said
for beating the rush to capitalize

on Mickey
that we'll be starting next year

So, I'd like to preview for you
our brand new character on the show:

Mickey Mouse !

Boy ! Hey there, John !

Hey there, Mickey !
It's so great to have you with us !

Where's Shelley Miscavige ?

Mickey, there's the classic catchphrase
that you're going to be doing

every time you're on this show
from now on !

The nice thing about characters
entering the public domain

is that you can do new,
interesting things with them !

I thought I wasn't public domain
until next year !

That's actually true, buddy,
we are pushing the limit a bit here.

Actually, come to think of it,
is your voice public domain yet ?

- I guess you'll find out !
- Yeah, I guess we will !

- I hope Henry Kissinger dies soon !
- Me too, Mickey !

You know what ? Consider
that your second catchphrase ! Bye !

The point is, we are staking
our claim to Mickey Mouse right now.

And I know Disney's lawyers
might take the trademark angle

and argue that this Mickey is closely
associated with their brand.

Although they should know
that he's pretty closely associated

with our brand, now, too,
and not just because

I have a general vibe that screams
"95-year-old rat-faced idiot".

But also because
the "Steamboat Willie" Mickey

has actually been
in our opening credits

since the first show
of this season.

I do not doubt that Disney has some
other legal arguments up their sleeve,

but we're only likely to find out
what they are if and when they sue.

So, you know what ?
Let's take this up a notch.

Come say hi, Mickey !

Come on, Mickey !

That's nice. Here he is !

And you know what,
great news !

As of January
the first next year,

this mascot costume will be available
to you for birthday parties,

theme park openings, funerals,
sex dungeons,

basically,
whatever you want to use it for.

Hey there, Mickey !

- Where's Shelley ?
- There he goes again !

Jeffrey Epstein
didn't kill himself !

That's three catchphrases now,
Mickey !

2024 is only 274 days away !
The countdown begins !

Thank you so much for watching.
We'll see you next week. Good night !

Where's Shelley Miscavige ?