Mickey Mouse Officially Enters Public Domain

This year, 58 years after the death of Walt Disney, The original design of Mickey Mouse as well as the rest of the Steamboat Willie cartoon has entered the public domain.

Mickey Mouse was first introduced in the cartoon "Steamboat Willie" In November of 1928 and since then has brought the Disney brand great success. Steamboat Willie is an animated short film Directed by Walt Disney and is notable for being the one of the first fully sound synchronized cartoons. This may not be the Mickey Mouse you are familiar with today. This is because the character has undergone many redesigns since the initial release of the short.

Disney has done their best to keep their copyright on the character for as long as possible. This was done by lobbying the US government to extend the protection in 1976 before it was originally supposed to expire in 1984. This was done again in 1998. They were successful in these lobbying attempts for many years.

In January 2024 the copyright for the short has officially expired. But what does this mean for you? When a work enters the public domain, This means that anyone in the United States can legally use or reference this work without permission. Copyright laws in other countries may still be applicable.