The oldest version of Mickey Mouse will be owned by everyone. One of the faces of the famous animated mouse heads the list of characters, films and books that will enter the public domain starting in 2024. Of course, there are several asterisks to take into account, because Disney will not stay calm.
Steamboat Willie —Willie and the steamboat—, the black and white cartoon from 1927, will remain free of Disney copyrights starting next January 1. You surely remember it: Mickey Mouse appears whistling, while he holds the rudder of a steamboat. Minnie Mouse also makes a starring appearance in the short.
American law protected the copyright of works for 75 years. For this reason, initially, the famous rodent was going to be available since 2003. But before this happened, the Congress of this country extended the deadline in 1998 with new legislation. “Sometimes derisively known as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act,” explains Jennifer Jenkins, law professor and director of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke, in a report about the topic.
The extension has been criticized by some scholars, who consider the law to be economically regressive and hinder the digitization, archiving, and therefore access to American cultural heritage. But it wasn’t just Disney. Other project owners also benefited from the new deadline that expires next year. On the list are The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, the German science fiction film Metropolis and Alfred Hitchcock’s first thriller, among others.
“This is exciting because it is something symbolic,” Jenkins said. «I feel like the pipe of a steamship, like blowing out smoke. It is so exciting”. Everyone, in theory, will now be able to copy, share and intervene for free in this version of Mickey Mouse. At least in the United States, because copyright could have other considerations in other countries.
Disney ready to defend Mickey Mouse brand
Steamboat Willie It was directed by Walt Disney himself and his partner Ub Iwerks. It was one of the first cartoons to have the sound synchronized with the images. It was not the first, but the third cartoon starring Mickey and Minnie Mouse that occurred. However, it was the first to be distributed.
A fragment has been used in the introduction to Disney animated films in recent years. In this piece, Mickey whistles the 1910 tune Steamboat Billwhich served as inspiration for the title of the short.
Disney already told everyone to handle carefully. «From the first appearance of Mickey Mouse in the short film Steamboat Willie “Since 1928, people have associated the character with authentic Disney stories, experiences and products,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “That won’t change when the film’s copyright expires.”
Disney recalled that current artists and creators will only be able to use the Mickey Mouse from the 1927 material. “More modern versions of Mickey will not be affected by the expiration of copyright… Mickey will continue to play a prominent role as a global ambassador for Walt Disney Company,” the company said.
The video game company Fumi has already launched a gory trailer for a shooting game called Mouse. The video shows a spindly-limbed mouse with features similar to the original Mickey Mouse turned into a bloodthirsty gangster.
Disney has a strong record of Mickey Mouse as a corporate mascot and brand identifier. The law prohibits using the character in a misleading way to confuse consumers, making them think that a product comes from the original creator.
Put another way: anyone who starts a film company or theme park cannot use mouse ears as their logo. The courts will probably be busy for a while determining what is in and out of Disney’s rights.