In just a few short days, an early version of Disney’s most iconic character will join the public domain for the first time.
For nearly a century, the image of Mickey Mouse has been married to the Walt Disney Company brand, but on January 1, 2024, Disney’s copyright of “Steamboat Willie,” Walt Disney’s first short film featuring Mickey Mouse, will expire.
That means that one of the company’s earliest iterations of its beloved rodent will become available for public use.
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“Steamboat Willie” premiered in 1928, helping launch Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney into the stratosphere. Since US copyright law, which was last updated by Congress in 1998, allows copyright to be held for 95 years, Disney’s sole claim to the character is about to end.
I can’t wait to start making my own Steamboat Willie cartoons! The Mouse may sue me for use of the name “Mickey” or some other bastardization of the copyright law, but it’s the principle of the thing!
Make it educational, like how to perform a tracheostomy with a ballpoint pen.
They would probably get you under trademark law. They use a clip of Steamboat Willie as their intro logo for things.