Disney Copyright Release: Fill & Download for Free

The character of Mickey Mouse is trademarked.His first appearance was in an animated short called “Steamboat Willie,” released in 1928. The copyright on “Steamboat Willie” expires on January 1, 2024, but in fact it’s already available online in its entirety, and I don’t think that’s Disney’s doing.That version of Mickey Mouse will be available in 2024 — but even then, you can’t call the character “Mickey Mouse,” because that name is trademarked, and you can’t use anything from the later cartoons and comics that are still under copyright. If you go look at “Steamboat Willie,” you’ll see that it’s not exactly the same Mickey as we see him today.As for what Disney will do to retain ownership of Mickey — probably nothing, beyond vigorously enforcing the trademarks. I think they realize that they’ve pushed copyright extensions about as far as the public will tolerate.Contrary to popular myth, Disney was not solely responsible for the Copyright Extension Act. That act was passed into law with Disney’s vigorous support, yes, but it was actually done partly to keep U.S. law consistent with European copyright rules, and the European extension was largely brought about by Germany, which wanted the State of Bavaria to retain copyright on the original German version of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, which Bavaria had owned and suppressed since 1945.Well, Mein Kampf fell into the public domain in 2015; no one was willing to extend copyright any further than what it is now. If Bavaria couldn’t do it, Disney probably can’t, either.Also, Disney hasn’t actually made significant money off Mickey for ages now. He’s largely a figurehead.So I suspect they’ll just let the copyrights go as they come due, and rely on trademarks.

The Mickey Mouse character will not “enter the public domain” in 2024. Rather the first Mickey Mouse cartoon will “officially” enter the US public domain on 1 January of that year, 95 years after it was first released. The Mickey Mouse character will remain trademarked to the Disney Corporation, and is likely to remain so as long as it - the company - exists.Whilst anyone with a print of Steamboat Willie will theoretically be free to copy and distribute the film from 1 January 2024, in practical terms they would almost certainly be sued for trademark infringement by Disney.All of this only applies to the United States. Most other countries reckon copyright as expiring 50 or 70 years after the end of the year in which the last “co-creator” died. Given that co-writer/directors Walt Disney died in 1966 and Ub Iwerks died in 1971, that means that the earliest the copyright on Steamboat Willie will expire is at the end of 2021 for countries with a 50 year posthumous term (e.g. Canada, Australia, etc.), or the end of 2041 for those with a 70 year term (e.g. the UK and EU, etc.).

Probably Steamboat Willie. By releasing the first Mickey Mouse into public domain, it would finally push the conversation over Disney copyright vs Disney trademarks into the courts and into the open where they can be considered without political or further litigious consequences.Under the current circumstances, pushing this agenda results in lobbying efforts to shore up copyrights into perpetuity or invites legal action.How would the world be poorer if Shakespeare’s heirs still protected all use of images, poems and plays and derivative works. It’s time the world had a chance to play in Uncle Walt’s playground.