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Disney may soon lose their exclusive rights to Mickey Mouse due to copyright law.
Copyright of any anonymous or pseudo-anonymous body of artistic work expires after 95 years, so in 2024, Mickey Mouse, who was created in 1928, will enter the public domain.
Daniel Mayeda, the associate director of the Documentary Film Legal Clinic at UCLA School of Law, says the copyright expiration does come with limitations.
“You can use the Mickey Mouse character as it was originally created to create your own Mickey Mouse stories or stories with this character,” he 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 copyright.”
“Copyrights are time-limited,” Mayeda said. “Trademarks are not. So Disney could have a trademark essentially in perpetuity, as long as they keep using various things as they’re trademarked, whether they’re words, phrases, characters or whatever.”
The Guardian reported:
Mickey Mouse first appeared in the black and white cartoon Steamboat Willie. The cartoon was a pioneer in animation for its use of synchronized sound – where movements on-screen correspond to the music and sound effects, launching one of the most recognizable images in film and television.
According to the National Museum of American History: “Over the years, Mickey Mouse has gone through several transformations to his physical appearance and personality. 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.”
While this first rat-like iteration of Mickey will be stripped of its copyright, Mayeda said Disney retains its copyright on any subsequent variations in other films or artwork until they reach the 95-year mark.
Elon Musk responded to an article shared on Twitter. He simply said, “It’s time.”
Ron DeSantis recently stripped Disney of a special tax status in Florida.
Newsweek reported:
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Friday that will dissolve Disney‘s district, known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, on June 1, 2023. The special rights granted under the state law in 1967 allowed Disney to self-govern the district by collecting taxes and operating its own services such as fire protection and utilities and planning, Newsweek previously reported.
The law became the newest development in a public feud between DeSantis and Disney, who have clashed for weeks ever since the entertainment giant spoke out against a controversial piece of DeSantis-backed legislation commonly referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics. The officially-titled Parental Rights in Education law, which DeSantis also signed recently, restricts “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels.”
Senator Josh Hawley said recently, “The age of Republican handouts to big business is over. Thanks to special copyright protections from Congress, woke corporations like Disney have earned billions while increasingly pandering to woke activists.”
“It’s time to take away Disney’s special privileges and open up a new era of creativity and innovation.”
Mayeda also added, “Disney has been very active in trying to extend copyright terms.”
“Successfully, they have had their term for Mickey and so forth extended, but I doubt that they’re going to be able to get additional extensions.”
“I think this is going to be the end of the line.”
