Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. Have you seen some stuff about a version of Mickey Mouse and how Disney’s copyright on it is expiring? And you’re very confused about that whole thing? Don’t worry. We’re here to help.
Maybe you didn’t think you’d ever be diving into copyright issues, but here we are: There’s a Mickey Mouse that’s now public domain.
Notice how I said “a” Mickey. Because you can’t go out and sell a movie or a book with the high-pitched voiced Disney mouse and avoid a copyright violation.
No, this has to do with an earlier version. Like I said, we’ll explain:
Wait, what's going on here?
See that whistling mouse above? It looks like what Mickey Mouse would end up being, but it’s actually an early Disney cartoon movie named Steamboat Willie.
And as of January 1, 2024, that version of Mickey Mouse is now in the public domain.
What does that mean?
If you wanted to go out and make a video game like Infestation 88 (see above) or a horror movie called Mickey’s Mouse Trap featuring the Steamboat Willie version of the character, you can go right ahead and do it!
So can I make a comedy about the newer, modern Mickey Mouse characters and have it make lots of money?
Nope. The copyright on them hasn’t expired. That would be copyright infringement and Disney would presumably sue you.
But everything else is fair game?
Mostly, but there was this warning:
Daniel Mayeda from the UCLA School of Law told The Guardian: “You can use the Mickey Mouse character as it was originally created to create your own Mickey Mouse stories or stories with this character. But if you do so in a way that people will think of Disney—which is kind of likely because they have been investing in this character for so long—then in theory, Disney could say you violated my trademark.”
