Because Mickey Mouse will become public domain and anyone will be able to use it without asking permission or paying Disney

On January 1, 2024, Disney will lose the copyright on the original version of Mickey Mouse in the famous animated short film The steamboat Willie 1928, in accordance with United States copyright law.

After 95 years after the creation of the famous Disney mouse, the copyright expires in 2024. When the film and the Mickey Mouse character were released, the company secured the copyright for the next 56 years.

Subsequently, once that period was over, the company has pushed to extend the lifespan to 75 yearswhich ended with a legal battle resolved with an extension until 2024

Now, starting with the new year, Any cartoonist, director, writer and composer will be free to do whatever they want with the first versions of the beloved mouse.

A case of witnesses

Mickey Mouse has been for a long time a symbol in the copyright wars. Beyond the practical impact, the deadline (95 years from the debut in The steamboat Willie) also constitutes an important symbolic goal.

“This is an important question,” said Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain. “It’s generating a lot of excitement in the copyright community; it’s something that’s finally happening.”

Mickey Mouse first appeared in the black and white cartoon The steamboat Williecreated by animator Ubbe Iwwerks, at the request of Walt Disney. The cartoon was a pioneer in animation for its use of synchronized soundwhere the movements on the screen correspond to the music and sound effects, launching one of the most recognizable images of cinema and television.

In the 1928 film, a mute Mickey Mouse appears, whose longer nose looks more like that of a mouse, painted with rudimentary eyes, without pupils. Subsequent versions of the character remain under copyrightalthough in the coming decades they will also be in the public domain.

In practice, the expiration of copyright The steamboat Willie means that the black and white short film can be shown without Disney’s permission. However, Disney released it for free on YouTube a few years ago.

What’s coming

Every January 1, JenniferJenkins releases a long list of works that artists can now remix and reinvent for free. This year’s list includes Tiggerthe friendly tiger Winnie the Poohbecause like Mickey Mouse he made his first appearance in 1928.

Other works from 1928 include books Lady Chatterley’s lover by DH Lawrence, the war book No news at the front and the movie The cameraman by Buster Keaton.

The liberation of rights to popular works is quite recent, since Congress expanded the terms of copyright in 1998 and almost 20 years have passed without anything entering the public domain.

The works began losing copyright protection again in 2019, and it has since been open season on using the book. The Great Gatsbythe music of Rhapsody in blue and the character Winnie the Pooh.

Unusually, a constant in the new enjoyment of the works is adapt them to the zombie universe: the books came out first The Great Gatsby Not Dead AND The Great Gatsby and the Zombiesand then box office success in theaters Winnie the Pooh: honey and blood, a horror film that got a lot of press but only grossed $5 million worldwide.