The images of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, first appearing in 1928 in Steamboat Willie, are now available to the public in the US, as Disney’s copyright has expired.
This means creatives like cartoonists can now rework and use the earliest versions of Mickey and Minnie.In fact, anyone can use those versions without permission or cost.
However, Disney pointed out that more modern versions of Mickey are still covered by copyright. „We will, of course, continue to protect our rights in the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright”, the company said.
US copyright law says the rights to characters can be held for 95 years, which means the characters in Steamboat Willie entered the public domain on Monday, 1 January 2024. Those works can now legally be shared, performed, reused, repurposed or sampled.
Disney has faced losing the copyright over its original cartoons several times in the past: the characters were first expected to go into the public domain in 1984, but Congress extended the term by 20 years. Before the next expiry date came up in 2004, another 20-year extension was passed.
Disney’s efforts to protect its characters have even led to the law being dubbed „the Mickey Mouse Protection Act”. Disney still separately holds a trademark on Mickey as a brand identifier and a corporate mascot – meaning there are still limits on how the public can use these images, Jenkins said. Any use of Mickey Mouse that gives the impression he belongs to a brand other than Disney would still be a trademark issue, informs the BBC.
