The Walt Disney Company could soon lose copyright protection for Mickey Mouse.
For starters, U.S. copyright law states intellectual property on artistic work expires 95 years after first publication. Mickey’s first appearance was in the 1928 animated short “Steamboat Willie,” which means it will lapse into the public domain at the end of 2023.
Related: Minnie Mouse will be joining Mickey at Town Square Theater in the Magic Kingdom
Of course, this assumes that nothing changes between now and January 1, 2024 for copyright law.
When Steamboat Willie premiered, Disney was afforded 56 years of protection for the character.
But with the copyright set to expire in 1984, Disney lobbied for reform and secured the passage of the Copyright Act of 1976. This allowed ownership of works by corporations for 75 years. In 1998, Disney was again able to delay the entry of Mickey Mouse into the public domain with the adoption of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. The law extended protection of copyrights by corporations for 95 years from their original publication, pushing the expiration of Disney’s copyright for Steamboat Willie to 2024. There is still time for legislation to extend the copyright protection, but nothing has been introduced yet for consideration.
Finally, even if Disney’s copyright for Steamboat Willie expires, only the original design of Mickey Mouse will hit the public domain.
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Source: ComicBook.com
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