Walt Disney Co.’s Mickey Mouse copyright license expires in 2024, 95 years after the famous character debuted in “Steamboat Willie,” which will send the character into the public domain. However, this doesn’t mean the Burbank company doesn’t have some protections over the use of the iconic mouse’s image.
According to the National Museum of American History, Mickey Mouse has gone through several transformations since 1928.
“In his early years, the impish and mischievous Mickey looked more rat-like, with a long pointy nose, black eyes, a smallish body with spindly legs and a long tail,” according to the museum.
It is only the early version of Mickey that is entering the public domain. Later iterations of the Disney character are still under copyright. They will enter the public domain at different points in the future.
What this means is that individuals can, beginning in 2024, create their own stories with the original Mickey Mouse.
The Mickey Mouse character, however, is still protected from unlimited free use under trademark law. Unlike copyright, trademarks are not time-limited. Disney holds Mickey Mouse trademarks for a variety of commercial uses. As a result, if it can be argued that someone could associate a new Mickey creation with the Disney brand, the company could sue.
“You can use the Mickey Mouse character as it was originally created to create your own Mickey Mouse stories or stories with this character,” Daniel Mayeda, the associate director of the Documentary Film Legal Clinic at UCLA, told The Guardian. “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.”
Mickey won’t be alone in the public domain. Disney’s copyright for Pluto expires in 2025, and Donald Duck’s copyright will expire in 2029.