'Steamboat Willie' Mickey Mouse To Enter Public Domain in 2024
As its 95-year copyright expires.
Mickey Mouse from the popular 1928 Steamboat Willie short film is officially entering the public domain on January 1, 2024.
The popular Disney character will be made available for public use as its 95-year copyright officially comes to an end, following the United States’ Copyright Term Extension Act. “Ever since Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie, people have associated the character with Disney’s stories, experiences, and authentic products,” a Disney rep told The Associated Press. “That will not change when the copyright in the Steamboat Willie film expires.”
“More modern versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright, and 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 added. The company further reiterated that those who intend on utilizing Mickey from his Steamboat Willie era will not be allowed to do the same for the character’s newer versions, “We will, of course, continue to protect our rights in the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright.”
It remains to be seen what projects the publicly will create for the older design of Mickey. In 2023, Rhys Frake-Waterfield debuted his gory take on Winnie the Pooh with the horror film Blood and Honey as Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh universe (with the exception of Tigger) entered the public domain.
