“This is a deeply symbolic, highly anticipated moment,” said Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law School in North Carolina.
Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie (1928). Photo: Getty Images
Now everyone is free to copy, share, reuse and adapt Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy – another Disney animation from 1928 – and the early versions of the characters in it, including Mickey and Minnie.
An important caveat is that later versions of the characters, such as those in the 1940 film Fantasia, are not in the public domain and cannot be copied without a visit from Disney's lawyers.
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However, artists would be free to create, for example, a “climate change awareness version” of Steamboat Willie, in which Mickey's ship runs aground on a dry riverbed, or a feminist retelling in which Minnie takes the helm, Jenkins said.
This would reflect the imaginative reuse of other characters whose copyrights have recently expired, such as Sherlock Holmes and Winnie the Pooh.
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The original 1928 script of Disney's “Steamboat Willie” at the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank, California. Photo: AFP
In a statement, Disney said it will “continue to protect our rights to the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright.”
In fact, Steamboat Willie's version of Mickey is a scrawny, mischievous creature who would be unrecognizable to many younger viewers.
“What’s in the public domain is kind of a horrible little black-and-white beast,” said Justin Hughes, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California.
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He added: “The Mickey Mouse most familiar to today's generations of Americans will continue to be protected by copyright.”
“I wouldn't be surprised if there were legal disputes, and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Disney out there educating people on this point.”
Cease and desist letters could be sent to artists who produce “high-budget fan art” if they use elements from later Mickey cartoons, such as red shorts and white gloves, he predicted.
Walt Disney, the creator of Mickey Mouse, in Florida in 1941. Photo: AP
Additionally, although the copyright has expired, the trademark has not.
Copyrights prevent unlicensed copying of the creative work itself, such as books, films and characters. They expire after a set period of time.
Trademarks protect the source of a work and prevent someone else from creating a product that could mislead consumers into believing it came from the original author. They can be extended indefinitely.
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Disney said it would “help protect consumers from confusion caused by the unauthorized use of Mickey and our other iconic characters.”
The company has even added a clip of Steamboat Willie to the opening sequence of every Walt Disney Animation Studios film.
“They were very smart people at Disney – they realized it was best to trademark that iconic scene from Steamboat Willie,” Hughes said.
A statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom Park in Florida. Photo: AP
Anyone who uses the classic image of Mickey at the helm of the boat on shirts, hats or mugs could face legal action, he said.
Other experts, like Jenkins, remain more optimistic about public freedoms.
“Our Supreme Court has made it clear that you cannot use trademark rights to circumvent what copyright expiration allows,” she said.
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Both sides agree that the law is likely to be tested in court soon.
Anyone looking to profit from Disney's beloved mascot “should proceed with caution and counsel,” Hughes added.
Mickey Mouse balloons at Disneyland Paris. The Mickey Mouse from “Steamboat Willie” looks very different than later versions of the character, which works in Disney’s favor. Photo: AP But copyright law should ensure that artists can use characters like Mickey to create lasting works, just as Shakespeare was adapted to create modern classics from West Side Story – a retelling of Romeo and Juliet – to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead – Tom Stoppard's exploration – of the fate of two minor characters from Hamlet, Jenkins said.
“I’m excited to see what happens in 2024,” she said.
“But I’m even more interested in what we’re still talking about, thinking about, teaching, writing about, and sharing with our children in 2054.”