Mickey Mouse will be in the public domain in 2024.
That means Disney could lose their exclusive rights to the little rodent within two years.
Intellectual property rights on artistic work expire at 95 years under U.S. copyright laws.
The Daily Mail reports that Disney initially had a copyright that was protected for 56 years. The company supported the Copyright Act of 1976, which extended protections to 75 years; in 1998, they agitated for a further extension and got it.
It seems likely that Disney will attempt to keep Mickey Mouse out of the public domain, but there’s no word on what the company plans to do.
Mickey has been famous since 1928 and his appearance in the animated film, Steamboat Willie.
He has long been the symbol of Disney, known as the “House of Mouse” and is one of the world’s most iconic animated characters.
Once copyright expires, however, anyone can use the character without asking permission or paying any charges.
Disney is well-known for the legal ferocity with which it protects its symbols, having once threatened to sue three daycare centres in Florida for unauthorized use of their animated characters.
And they sued the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 1989 for a song and dance routine at the Oscars that year that featured a Snow White character.
If copyright goes on Mickey Mouse, he could then become like Winnie the Pooh — fair game for all. More or less.
Winnie entered the public domain earlier this year, and shortly thereafter was depicted as a serial killer in a horror movie.
However, media and entertainment lawyer Daniel Mayeda told the Guardian that using the Mickey Mouse character, public domain or not, would still be tricky.
People could still face copyright claims if what they create for Mickey is too close to Disney’s original.
“You can use the Mickey Mouse character as it was originally created to create your own Mickey Mouse stories or stories with this character,” said Mayeda.
“But if you do so in a way that people will think of Disney – which is kind of likely because they have been investing in this character for so long – then in theory, Disney could say you violated my trademark.”
Although Disney may lose control of the original Mickey Mouse, there are later iterations of the mouse and other variations that they still control — until such images also hit the 95-year mark.
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