Summary

• Disney will not lose all rights to Mickey Mouse despite the copyright expiration of Steamboat Willie, as the character's copyright status is more complicated than many realize.
• The copyright expiration only pertains to the original 1928 version of Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie, while later versions and evolutions of the character are still protected by copyright law.
• Mickey Mouse will remain a registered trademark of Disney, allowing the company to maintain control over the character and restrict its use, even as Steamboat Willie enters the public domain.

The Mickey Mouse copyright expiration could impact Disney's future with the classic character now entering the public domain. In January 2024, the copyright on Steamboat Willie, an animated short that was the first story that ever featured Mickey Mouse expired. With the copyright expiration of Disney's most iconic figure, many may think that this will inevitably lead to other creators and members of the public being able to use Mickey Mouse in their own creative work going forward. While there have already been moves to take advantage of the Mickey Mouse copyright expiration, it is not as simple as that.

Although the excitement surrounding the Mickey Mouse copyright expiration is understandable and may lead to questions regarding what the future of Mickey Mouse films will look like for Disney, Disney will not lose all its rights and trademark on Mickey Mouse. The question of copyright protection is more complicated than many Disney viewers would imagine, as the character of Mickey Mouse has been in many other films after Steamboat Willie. Mickey Mouse's ongoing evolution throughout Disney's history from that very first short film complicates his copyright status.

Mickey Mouse's Original Story Lost Copyright As Of January 2024

Disney Has Fought Off Copyright Expirations In The Past

Released in 1928, Steamboat Willie is not only one of Disney's first animation films ever since the birth of the Walt Disney Company, but it also marks Mickey Mouse's first appearance. While the short is best known now for introducing that iconic cartoon character to the world, at the time, it's claim to fame was as the first Disney movie with sound. Following the success of the live-action Jazz Singer being the first Hollywood movie with sound, Walt Disney wanted to capitalize on that new approach to motion pictures.

According to US copyright law, the rights for a character expire 95 years after the publication of the original work. With Steamboat Willie debuting in 1928, January 2024 marked the expiration date for the short and Disney lost with Mickey Mouse copyright. Similarly, this issue of copyright expiration is going to reoccur in the following years, with Disney losing the copyright over other iconic characters like Pluto and Donald Duck before 2030, if not renewed by Congress.

Steamboat Willie has been at the center of many copyright discussions in US copyright law. Disney has risked losing its copyright over the original cartoons more than once in the past. Firstly, the copyright was due to expire in 1983, due to US copyright laws in 1928 that protected works for 56 years from their creation. To protect Disney animated movies, Congress passed a new copyright act that protected works for 50 years after the death of the author, resetting the expiry date to 2003. In 1997, a new regulation was passed, extending Disney's Mickey Mouse copyright once again.

The Evolution Of Mickey Mouse Is Still Copyrighted

Later Versions Of Mickey Mouse May Enter The Public Domain In The Future

The discussions about the Mickey Mouse copyright expiration and the intervention of Congress in this matter may suggest how important the question of copyright law may be for Disney. However, this will have less effect on Disney and the future of Mickey Mouse than many may think. The copyright's expiration only pertains to Steamboat Willie, so the question of the Mickey Mouse copyright expiration will only involve Steamboat Willie itself. The expiration of the copyright will not involve any other film made after 1928 in which Mickey Mouse features as a character nor the trademark on the character.

As proven by the recent discussion on the Sherlock Homes copyright ownership, the rest of Mickey Mouse's stories are still going to be copyrighted. As the 1928 version of Mickey Mouse, the one present in Steamboat Willie, enters the public domain, every other subsequent Mickey Mouse film or evolution of the character is still protected by copyright law. In other words, the Mickey Mouse many know and love is still under copyright and will remain so until at least 2030, when the question of public domain and Disney's characters may resurface, especially with no further change to the current copyright law.

Mickey Mouse Will Still Be A Registered Trademark

The Disney Trademark Puts Limitations On Any Steamboat Willie Adaptations

It seems likely that Disney will maintain its Mickey Mouse copyright for the foreseeable future. In particular, Mickey Mouse will remain under Disney's property because it is a registered trademark. In fact, this would let Disney keep ownership of Mickey Mouse as its trademark potentially forever, thus allowing Mickey Mouse to feature in future and upcoming Disney films. Unlike copyright, which expires after a certain amount of years, trademark protection can endure in perpetuity, as long as Disney can claim that the character of Mickey Mouse is associated with the Walt Disney company itself.

Ultimately, Mickey Mouse will still be a legally protected Disney product. The strong association between Disney and Mickey Mouse, one that the company itself has invested in, represents a strong protection for Disney as the trademark will not expire any time soon, giving Disney control over Mickey Mouse. Despite the copyright law and Steamboat Willie's copyright expiration, Disney's approval is still required for others to use Mickey Mouse material, even the one that will eventually become public domain, in anything outside of fair use, thanks to the mouse's trademark protection.

What this means is that Disney still has control over Mickey Mouse and the use of the character. While Steamboat Willie has entered the public domain, which opens it up for fair use by virtually anyone, the Mickey Mouse copyright is still in place. Disney will maintain its control over Mickey Mouse due to trademark protection. In fact, while an artist may use Steamboat Willie's version of Mickey Mouse for their own purposes, they could violate the trademark if they try to create their own brand off of the iconic Disney character's image.

Mickey Mouse Will Be In A Horror Movie

Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood And Honey Has Inspired A Trend Of Horror Movies With Public Domain Characters

In 2023, an independent slasher movie called Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey was released in theaters. The movie used all the Winnie-the-Pooh characters and turned the titular character into a savage killer. This was possible because Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain and the characters weren't trademarked. The movie was a critical disaster, as it sits at a "rotten" 3% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it was a phenomenal commercial success, making almost $5 million with a budget of just $100,000 (via Box Office Mojo). That success was all thanks to the novelty of the movie, and the same thing could be done with Mickey Mouse.

Sure enough, only a day after the Mickey Mouse copyright expiration passed, there was an announcement for a horror retelling of Steamboat Willie. While it is not surprising it didn't take long to capitalize on this, there could be some major hurdles for the Mickey horror movie. First, the movie will strictly have to feature the Steamboat Willie version and have none of Mickey Mouse's unique aspects.

Secondly, the filmmakers will presumably still have to get approval from Disney because the character is not only copyrighted but trademarked too. While the case of a Steamboat Willie horror movie is not as clear cut as the Winnie-the-Pooh reimaging, there will likely be a lot of attempts to cash in on the Mickey Mouse copyright expiration in one way or another.