For as far as anyone in existence could remember, the entertainment giant Disney has always been symbolic through their characters, the most iconic being everyone’s beloved Mickey Mouse. This character was also the reason for Disney’s meteoric rise in the business and its ascension to the top of the food chain in the industry.
Thus, the protection and preservation of these characters was the top priority for the company, seeing as they were the reason behind their immeasurable success. But on 1st Jan 2024, the copyrights for the original creations of Mickey and Minnie Mouse along with several other characters from Disney’s roster expired, which made them the property of the public for them to use freely.
How Mickey Mouse And Other Disney Characters Became Public Property
It’s hard to imagine Disney without Mickey Mouse, which is only natural considering just how influential the character was in the company’s success in the entertainment industry. The first time we ever laid eyes on the icon was in 1928’s short film Steamboat Willie, which was also the time that the character was copyrighted by The Walt Disney Company for his exclusive use in commercial endeavors.
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Since the copyrights of these properties, as stated by the US laws, can be held for no more than 95 years, the characters for the original short film have now entered the public domain, which means that the images can be reused by any creative individuals such as cartoonists and multimedia developers without facing any copyright claims or paying royalties to Disney.
Along with that, characters such as Minnie Mouse, Winnie The Pooh, and Tigger. All of these characters are free to be used by the public as they creatively see fit. While these original creations may now reside with the public, there are still newer versions of these characters that still fall under the copyright restrictions of Disney, which does not give full autonomy of these characters to the world, but only the earliest expressions of them.
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What Does This Mean For The World?
With these characters and many more becoming the property of the public, people many creative studios have already jumped on the bandwagon of reimagining the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse with their own takes.
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As the news about our favorite animated rodents became public knowledge, many new projects involving the original creations popped up in an instant. These include a slasher horror film titled Mickey’s Mouse Trap, which is scheduled to be released in the coming months, along with new video games like Infestation 88, a horror survival game, and an FPS titled Mouse which will be available for the public’s experience in the future.
Steamboat Willie, streaming on Disney+.
Source: The New York Times
