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Specific versions of Mickey Mouse have been released from Disney’s copyright — here’s what the public is doing with them.
In the world of copyright, there are few companies that share Disney’s reputation for fiercely protecting how its IP is used. When the company pushed to extend copyright length from 75 years to 95 years back in 1998, the law even became known as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act” because it prevented the iconic character from entering the public domain.
But that was then — now, as of January 1st, 2024, the earliest versions of the character seen in the 1928 animations Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy can finally be used and referenced by anyone in the US without Disney’s permission, alongside other characters like an early version of Minnie Mouse and Peg Leg Pete.
Having IP enter the public domain after a reasonable period of profit allows creatives to be inspired by Disney’s work and develop those concepts further — something Disney itself has benefitted from when making fairy-tale adaptations like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella. That doesn’t mean there aren’t caveats. The later versions of Mickey that were released after 1928 are still under Disney’s thumb, but this is still a significant crack in the tight copyright protections that have helped Disney build itself a billion-dollar entertainment empire.
If Winnie the Pooh set any example when it entered the public domain in 2022, we’re about to see plenty of weirdness as people start creatively playing with the original design for Disney’s cash cow mouse. We’ll drop anything of interest below.
