Mickey Mouse Loses Its Copyright

As of the first of this year, the original image of the now famous Mickey Mouse from Disney loses its copyright, which in layman’s terms means that anyone can reproduce the image for their own use. Meaning it has entered the public domain. This original Mickey Mouse came out 96 years ago (that’s an important number of years) in the film “Steamboat Willie,” which is the source that is going public.

That original Mickey Mouse character was then later “updated” by Disney in 1940 in the film “Fantasia.”

THAT Mickey Mouse is still protected by copyright law for a number of years, although not THAT many. Remember that copyright law is different than trademark law. Disney still owns the image and the ability to transform it, they’ve just lost the exclusivity in distribution and reproduction of the original Mickey Mouse image. Or so it seems, in this land of very confusing copyright and trademark law that is filled with grey areas.

So what does this all really mean? Lawsuits. And there have already been many in the works against folks that have already manipulated the image and even posted them publicly.

What does this mean for brand Mickey Mouse?

Winnie the Pooh lost copyright in 2022, and we’ve seen a lot of reproduction of those characters as well. Copyright means you can use and reproduce, but you can’t own. Disney still owns all of those trademarks. To my eye, we’ve not seen too much damage to the Winnie the Pooh brand, but then again there was this horror film about the characters turning against Christopher Robin. Sigh.

All something to watch out for, as I am sure we will see more beloved brand assets come under public domain as our oldest of trademarks hit milestone years. It’s a shame to lose control of a brand that you’ve built, just sayin’.

Perhaps this become catalyst for tightening the laws in these areas to make them less subjective to interpretation? What’s your experience? JIM