THE ANGEL. MICKEY will soon be yours and mine.
With multiple asterisks, qualifications and warnings, Mickey Mouse in his most primitive form will be the leader of the group of characters, films and books that will enter the public domain from 2024.
In a moment that many close observers thought would never come, at least one version of the quintessential intellectual property and perhaps the most iconic character in American pop culture will be free of Disney copyrights.and when the 1928 short film “Steamboat Willie” first hit the big screen, it was used in public.
“Home Alone” and “Terminator 2” are among the films that the USA will preserve for posterity
Messi revels in Disney: he spends his holidays there with his family
“That's all. It's Mickey Mouse. It's exciting because there's something symbolic about it,” said Jennifer Jenkins, a law professor and director of the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain, who writes a column on Jan. 1 each year on ” Public Domain Day” writes. “I feel like I'm in the chimney of the steamboat, like blowing out smoke. It's very exciting.”
Under U.S. law, copyrights can last for 95 years, after Congress renewed them several times during Mickey's lifetime.
“It’s sometimes derisively referred to as the ‘Mickey Mouse Protection Act,’” Jenkins explained. “That’s an oversimplification because Disney wasn’t the only one pushing for an extension of the deadline. “It was a whole group of copyright holders whose works were soon to enter the public domain who benefited greatly from the 20 years of additional protection.”
“Since Mickey Mouse's first appearance in the short film Steamboat Willie in 1928, people have associated the character with authentic Disney stories, experiences and products,” a Disney spokesman said in a statement to The Associated Press. “That won’t change when the copyright on the Steamboat Willie movie expires.”
Current artists and creators can use Mickey, but with significant restrictions. Only the most mischievous, rat-like, wordless ship captain in “Steamboat Willie” has made it to the public.
“More modern versions of Mickey will not be affected by the Steamboat Willie copyright expiration, and Mickey will continue to play a prominent role as a global ambassador for The Walt Disney Company in our storytelling, theme park attractions and merchandise,” it said. Disney's statement.
However, not all characteristics or personality traits of a character are necessarily copyrightable, and the courts could be busy deciding what is and isn't Disney property in the coming years.
“Of course, we will continue to protect our rights to more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright,” the company says.
Disney remains a strong and distinct trademark holder for Mickey as a corporate mascot and brand identifier, and the law prohibits misleading use of the character to mislead consumers into believing that a product is from the original creator. Anyone who starts a film company or an amusement park doesn't have the freedom to make mouse ears their logo.
Disney's statement said it will “help protect consumers from confusion caused by the unauthorized use of Mickey and our other iconic characters.”
“Steamboat Willie,” directed by Walt Disney and his partner Ub Iwerks and one of the first cartoons to feature synchronized sound, was actually the third Mickey and Minnie cartoon the men made, but the first to be published. In it, the more menacing Mickey is the captain of a ship and makes musical instruments out of other animals.
In it, and in a fragment of it used in the introduction to recent Disney animated films, Mickey whistles the 1910 tune “Steamboat Bill.” The song inspired the title of the Buster Keaton film “Steamboat Bill Jr.” , which came out just a few months before Steamboat Willie , which in turn may have inspired the title of the Disney short. The copyright on Keaton's film was not renewed and it has been in the public domain since 1956.
Another famous animal companion, Tigger, will be available to the public along with his friend Winnie the Pooh as the book “Pooh Corner House,” which first featured the leaping tiger, turns 96 years old. Pooh, probably the most famous early character to become public property, achieved this status two years ago when AA Milne's original Winnie the Pooh entered the public domain, leading to some truly novel uses, such as this year's horror film Winnie. The Pooh: Blood and Honey.”
Young Mickey could receive the same treatment.
“Now the public will set the terms,” said Cory Doctorow, an author and activist who advocates for broader public ownership of works.
January 1, 2024 has long been marked on public domain watchers' calendars, but some say it shows how long it takes for American works to become public, and that many objects with less pedigree than Winnie or Minnie are disappearing or in they can fall into oblivion with their unclear copyrights.
“The fact that there are works that are still recognizable and lasting after 95 years is frankly remarkable,” Doctorow said. “And it makes you think about the things we will have lost that would still be valid.”
Other items entering the American public domain include Charlie Chaplin's film “Circus,” Virginia Woolf's novel “Orlando” and Eugene O'Neill's play “Long Day's Journey into Night.”
The current copyright deadline, passed in 1998, brought the United States closer to the European Union, so Congress is unlikely to extend it now. In addition, there are now powerful companies like Amazon with its publishing arm full of fan fiction and Google with its book project, some of which are committed to the public domain.
“In fact, there is more opposition today than there was 20 years ago when the Mickey Mouse Act was passed,” said Paul Heald, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law who specializes in copyright and international intellectual property.
In some cases, the United States goes far beyond Europe and maintains copyright in works already public in its country of origin, although international agreements would allow the United States to adopt other nations' shorter term limits for works produced there.
George Orwell's books, for example, including 1947's Animal Farm and 1949's 1984, are already in the public domain in his native Britain.
“These works will not enter the public domain in the United States for another 25 years,” Heald said. “It would cost Congress nothing to pass a law that says, 'We are now adopting the shorter term rule,' which would put a lot of works here in the public domain.”