Mickey Mouse, the character, first appeared in 1928 in the animated short film 'Steamboat Willie'. And Disney is soon going to lose copyright over its earliest version.
The beloved cartoon will enter the public domain in the year 2024. This is a consequence of US copyright law. In other words, copyright for original works lasts 70 years plus until the author dies. And for works created anonymously, or by an employee, it lasts 95 years.
Moroever, works published before 1978, in the US, like Mickey Mouse, only have a copyright of 95 years from the date of publication.
Daniel Mayeda who is the associate director of the Documentary Film Legal Clinic at UCLA School of Law told The Guardian, about the potential limitations to this, stating, “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.”
Moreover, over the years, Mickey Mouse has gone through several transformations in his physical appearance and personality. So even though Disney will lose the copyright of the first version it will retain copyrights for the other versions until they reach the 95-year mark.
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