Leslie Soule
After 95 years of copyright protection, the original character that Mickey Mouse is based on – “Steamboat Willie” – is set to enter the public domain at the beginning of 2024. Disney has stated that, “More modern versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright, and Mickey will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for the Walt Disney Company in our storytelling, theme park attractions, and merchandise.”
The animated short feature “Steamboat Willie” made its original debut in 1928. Current copyright law – which has been extended in the case of Mickey Mouse, due to the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act, has not seen another extension. Thus, the law is set to expire, allowing free use of Steamboat Willie after January 1st.
Each time the character is altered, Disney has a copyright on that version of the character, so the Mickey Mouse character still retains legal protection.
Business Insider points out that after the copyright for the original Winnie The Pooh character ended, the public saw a Pooh-themed horror film, “Blood and Honey”. They speculate that a Steamboat Willie-themed film may be next. Once the copyright is lifted, images of Steamboat Willie may end up popping up on merchandise of all sorts, as a result.
January 1st is known as “Public Domain Day”, when the public gets to see what copyrights have ended and what iconic characters have now hit the public domain.
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