We all know and love Mickey Mouse, who is one of the most well-known and iconic characters in the world of Disney. Well, since the copyright on the 1928 film Steamboat Willie has expired, Mickey Mouse and the rest of the Steamboat Willie characters are now in public domain. What does this mean? This means that now, anyone can use these characters without permission from Disney. In other words, these characters are no longer under copyright restrictions. Why? U.S. laws regarding copyright state that “…copyright protection is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.” Because it has been 95 years since the film Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse is now in public domain.
Every year, Disney characters are being released to the public domain, and this year is no different. However, what makes this time extra problematic is that Disney’s (arguably) most iconic character, Mickey Mouse, is being released. Steamboat Willie‘s main character is Mickey Mouse. The good news for Disney is that only the very first (original) version of Disney was released, so they still own the more recent versions. Disney has fought fiercely to keep Mickey Mouse in its domain. In the past, Disney lobbied with Congress to extend the Copyright laws (Copyright Act of 1976, Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998—Also known as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act).
However, Disney can only do so much. Mickey’s Mouse Trap, a horror movie with an antagonist dressed as Mickey Mouse, is set to come out in March 2024. In this movie, a serial killer dressed as Mickey Mouse tries to kill a group of friends who are stuck inside an amusement park after closing hours. Disney is not very happy with the portrayal of Mickey Mouse in this movie, but they cannot do anything about it, since they don’t own the original Mickey Mouse anymore. What is your opinion?