How Mickey Mouse became mine (and yours)

Copyrights to Steamboat Willie explained.

Ub Iwerks, Walt DisneySteamboat Willie1928. Steamboat Willie 1928, Snap/Shutterstock

In video creation, it is tempting to use copyrighted material (guilty as charged), but if you want to avoid looking unprofessional or worse, getting sued, you need to understand what copyright is and how it works.

On 1. January 2024, Steamboat Willie (Walt Disney 1928) entered the public domain. This means that after 96 years, Mickey Mouse can now give me a little smooch on the cheek, and there is nothing Disney can do about it. How great is that? With some exemptions, the first Mickey Mouse from 1928, as seen in Steamboat Willie, is no longer copyright protected so everyone can now use the iconic mouse without permission from Disney.

What is allowed in public domain?

Materials in the public domain can be used by the public for any purpose without asking for permission.

This includes:

  • Copy the material

  • Edit the material

  • Distribute the material

  • Use the material commercially*

  • Use the material without asking permission.

  • Use the material without giving the proper credits (However, it is still curtesy to credit the creator)

    *Walt Disney still owns the rights to the Mickey Mouse logo and all later versions of Mickey Mouse. Any later version of the 1928 Mickey Mouse are therefore off limits! Later versions are still important trademarks of the Walt Disney Company. Even the 1928 version is not without limitations. Film companies and theme-parks are still not allowed to use the iconic mouse as their logo, and misleading the audience into thinking there is any association with Disney is also not allowed.

Source: Associated Press

It is worth mentioning that Disney holds a separate copyright for Mickey Mouse as a corporate mascot and brand identifier, so this complicates things a bit.

There is no doubt that Disney will try to protect its trademark in the future despite losing the copyright for this early version of Mickey Mouse.

Other honourable mentions of characters that have already entered the public domain include The little Mermaid, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dracula, and King Kong.

Credits:

Steamboat Willie: Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, 1928 (the film entered public domain 1 January 2024)

Music by: Al Jolson, “I’m Sitting On Top of The World”, 1925 (The song entered public domain in 2021)

Disclaimer: The above video is not associated with Disney or any of its trademarks.