“Newer versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration Steamboat Willie “In copyright, Mickey will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for The Walt Disney Company in our storytelling, theme park attractions, and merchandise,” Disney said.
He watches Steamboat Willie less
However, not every feature or character trait displayed by a character is necessarily copyrightable, and the courts may be busy in the coming years determining what is in and out of Disney property.
“We will, of course, continue to protect our rights to later versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright,” the company said.
Disney still maintains a cohesive and separate trademark on Mickey as its corporate mascot and brand identifier, and the law prohibits the deceptive use of the character to deceive consumers into believing the product is from the original creator. No one starting a movie company or a theme park would be free to make mouse ears as their logo.
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Disney's statement said it would “work to protect against consumer confusion caused by unauthorized use of Mickey and our other iconic characters.”
Steamboat Willie, directed by Walt Disney and his partner Ubbe Iwerks and among the first cartoons to have sound synchronized with its pictures. It features the more menacing Mickey driving a boat and making musical instruments out of other animals.
Another famous animal friend, Tigger, will join his sidekick Winnie the Pooh in the public domain as the book in which Tigger Tigger first appeared, The house is in Pooh CornerHe is 96 years old.
Pooh, perhaps the most famous previous character to become public domain, attained this status two years earlier when AA Milne's original was released Winnie the Pooh It has entered the public domain, leading to some really new uses, including a 2023 horror film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
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Little Mickey can get the same treatment. “Now, it's the public that will set the terms,” said Cory Doctorow, an author and activist who advocates for expanded public ownership of businesses.
Jan. 1, 2024, has long been circled on the calendars of public domain watchers, but some say it shows that it takes so long for American works to go public.
Many properties with lesser lineage than Winnie or Minnie can disappear or be forgotten with their copyright obscurity.
“The fact that there are works that are still recognizable and going 95 years later is frankly remarkable,” Doctorow said. “It makes you think about the things we must have lost that will still have currency.”
Another property that has entered public domain in the United States is a Charlie Chaplin film circusVirginia Woolf's novel Orlando The musical by Bertolt Brecht The Threepenny Opera.
AP
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