2024 marks the move of Steamboat Willie, the first appearance of Mickey Mouse, into the public domain. But while the copyrights for that version expired, The Walt Disney Company still owns the copyrights and trademarks for the later versions.
In 2022, a similar situation occurred with the copyrights to Winnie-the-Pooh. Created by A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard in 1926, the copyrights to the famous anthropomorphic bear expired 95 years after publication of the first story. This is what led to the production of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, a horror movie by independent filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield.
But there are also significant differences, as Mickey Mouse is the official mascot of Disney as a global brand.
Steamboat Wille was a short animated film directed and produced by Walt Disney, with the story and animation co-developed by Ub Iwerks. Although it is technically the third Mickey Mouse animated short produced, it is the first that received a public theatrical release in 1928.
It's almost #publicdomainday! Here's a preview of what will be public domain in the US on Jan 1 2024. More at https://t.co/2a0WJPu3aQ pic.twitter.com/kDQvrMdZcK
— Public Domain Center (@DukeCSPD) December 29, 2023
Jennifer Jenkins, a professor of law and the director of Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, says “this is it. This is Mickey Mouse. This is exciting because it’s kind of symbolic. I kind of feel like the pipe on the steamboat, like expelling smoke. It’s so exciting!”
It should be noted that U.S. copyright laws have changed a lot over the past century, and Mickey Mouse has been at the center of it all. The last major update, the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, expanded the copyright protection to 95 years after the first publication. Pundits informally referred to it as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act”.
But while the Steamboat Willie versions of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are now public domain, the company still retains the rights to the later versions of the Disney classic icon. According to the statement provided by a Disney spokesperson to the Associated Press:
“Ever since Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie, people have associated the character with Disney’s stories, experiences, and authentic products.”
The Disney spokesperson also added:
“More modern versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright, and Mickey will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for the Walt Disney Company in our storytelling, theme park attractions, and merchandise.”
So is the character of Mickey Mouse in the public domain or not? Interestingly, the answer is both yes and no.
Creators can use the Steamboat Willie version (as well as the version from the short animated film “Plane Crazy”). But that particular design is significantly more rodent-like, with more elongated limbs and a snout. Plus, that visual design of Mickey Mouse also lacked the familiar white gloves. And because of the lack of color, his pants and shoes are plain white. The more modern version has red shorts and yellow-brown shoes.
This can be tricky, as Disney will try to protect the image of Mickey Mouse as the brand ambassador and as the symbol of the company. The aforementioned Disney representative clarified:
“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.”
One particular area that has not been resolved relating to Mickey Mouse’s copyright and trademark status is the use of artificial intelligence (AI). A.I. image generators such as Midjourney and DALL-E 3 make use of datasets that include proprietary content such as Disney’s characters.
If the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse is in public domain and A.I. generated images do not get copyright protection, does Disney have any say against anyone using A.I. for new material using this version of the character? Some users of these A.I. image generators have already shared the results from prompts using both the Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse and the more recent versions, even before 2024.
Just created these Mickey Mouse images in #Midjourney! As avid collectors, my family and I used to love marveling at Disney vinyl toys and other vinyls, but they got too costly. 💸
No worries now – we're bringing the magic home with AI! 🌟🐭 Blending my Hypebeast fashion into… pic.twitter.com/IhILW0Poaf
— bnonymous (@sbacani) April 15, 2023
Mickey Mouse has also appeared in multiple games over the last century, including some of the greatest titles in classic consoles like the SNES. Thus, it comes as no surprise that video game creators have already taken a stab at the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse, such as Nightmare Forge Games’ Infestation 88.
It is likely we will see many discussions and attempts to use Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse and create derivatives in 2024 and beyond. But what do you think of the public domain status of the iconic mouse? Should everyone have the freedom to use Mickey Mouse for personal and commercial purposes? Do you think copyrights should continue to protect creators’ rights for nearly a hundred years after the intellectual property is created?
