Mickey Mouse is entering the public domain, but don’t expect him to get a free ride on “Steamboat Willie.”

As of today, the traditionally protective Walt Disney Co. must contend with a deluge of Mickey Mouse parodies, cartoons, and probably fairly explicit variations as the iconic character enters the public domain.

Art.

In the sober light of 2024, Steamboat Willie, The 1928 short film that launched the empire Walt built is now available to everyone. The legal status of Mickey and Minnie Mouse Steamboat Willie And airplane crazy, from the beginning of the same year, something that was long fought over and that Disney probably wasn’t looking forward to. But in the new year, Virginia Woolf’s pioneering work also applies Orlando Peter Pan, Charlie Chaplin The circusBuster Keaton The Cameraman and Tigger by AA Milne’s The house at Pooh Corner now in the public domain if you have one Steamboat Willie Free for all, think again.

Besides Disney being notoriously litigious, the color version was created in 1935 The orchestra concertThe Mickey of 2024 is very different from the non-speaking Mickey of Steamboat Willie in 1928. The brand icon that is today’s Mickey has evolved over the decades and has much more meat on his bones, is full of many more smiles, has that cheerful voice, has a much less gruff personality, wears white gloves and clearly looks a lot less like a rat than that Steamboat Willie Mickey – and to paraphrase MC Hammer: You can’t touch it.

“Modern versions of Mickey will not be affected by the passage Steamboat Willie “Copyright applies, and Mickey will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for The Walt Disney Company in our stories, theme park attractions and merchandise,” a Disney spokesperson said of the dos and don’ts of the sound-synchronized film hits theaters Market. today in the public domain. “We will, of course, continue to protect our rights to the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright, and we will work to avoid consumer confusion caused by unauthorized use of Mickey and our other iconic characters.”

Then of course there is the trademark, which is separate from copyright – and has no expiration date.

As defined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a trademark in this United States is “a word, phrase, design, or combination that identifies your goods or services, distinguishes them from the goods or services of others, and the source is of your goods or services.” Goods or services Copyright is “artistic, literary or intellectually created works, such as novels, music, films, software code, photographs and paintings that are original and exist on a tangible medium such as paper, canvas, film or digital format.”

First, even what the copyright and laws looked like Steamboat WillieThe status was extended until this year in 1998 thanks to Rep. Sonny Bono and the so-called Mickey Mouse Protection Act, Mickey Mouse the name and Minnie Mouse the name have long been trademarks of Disney. Therefore, any design to use these nicknames is DOA regardless Steamboat Willie It entered the public domain at midnight this morning.

In 2007, Disney updated the Disney Animation Studios logo with a fragment of it Steamboat WillieThis is Mickey. The Mouse House being what they are, they rightfully trademarked this logo. This trademark was updated in early 2022 with the description as follows: “The trademark consists of a motion marker of an animator’s drawings, which visually reverse one by one, transitioning to an animated clip of a mouse character moving its foot tap and whistle while holding .” Steering Wheel. , followed by the appearance of the text WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS below the animated mouse figure.

A prominent Tinesltown attorney notes that memes and mockery of Mickey are widespread in the digital age and have little impact on Disney’s image or bottom line. “Why waste your time playing whac-a-mole for older characters if you don’t have to?” said the lawyer. “The Mickey Mouse of 95 years ago is virtually irrelevant in today’s market.”

“Not that they have to resort to imitations and parodies, (but) often companies like Disney pay more attention to the infringement by trying to stop it rather than simply ignoring it,” says the Avenue of Resident the Stars. “Most of them are new products with a shelf life of a few days. Forget it soon.”

Likewise, an entertainment executive pointed out that not many kids these days (or for years) actually crave Mickey Mouse, especially the older black-and-white films. Steamboat Willie Execution. While Mickey still has a vibrant life on Disney+ and several small series such as: Mickey Mouse’s Toontown The Moneyman said Disney has been good at creating new characters for younger audiences over the years, so any financial losses would be fairly limited. Other parties could try to sell Mickey, “and Disney would make it very bad for them. . . . It can’t have any color, it can’t look like modern Mickey.”

The sharpest trap Disney has yet to use to catch anyone trying to enter its Mickey territory is perception. Even though the original incarnation of AA Milne’s beloved character rose to public power in 2022, no one in their right mind really believed that Disney was behind last year’s games. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey and deals with slasher films. If there was a version of it though Steamboat Willie and whether Airplane crazyIs it Mickey or Minnie, which would somehow lead consumers to believe it’s from Disney or even imply that Mouse House’s lawyer would shut down this project faster than Space Mountain in a thunderstorm.

Now that Disney is Disney, a boat full of merchandise has sailed around the world to help the pretenders to the throne and make a few bucks themselves. Steamboat Willie Mickey and to a lesser extent Minnie – all trademarks. The media giant led by Bob Iger further muddied the waters for potential criminals Steamboat Willie Available online for free to all in 2009 – to the delight of over 13.5 million views today:

This being Hollywood, there is a certain irony in the story of it all.

During the last years of the Roaring Twenties, Buster Keaton was one of the biggest box office stars. Steamboat Bill, Jr on May 12, 1928.

Featuring the famous scene in which the facade of a house collapses around an unharmed Keaton, comedy genius Keaton’s 71-minute film received a rare, less-than-stellar reception from the ticket-buying public at the time. Today, it is considered one of the greatest cinematic greats of all time and has been in the public domain since 1956. Steamboat Bill, Jr. was still critically acclaimed when it came out. After Walt Disney and co-director/animator Ub Iwerks had achieved success with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit the year before, the then-Universal corporation wanted a character they not only created, but also controlled and directly profited from.

As far as can be ascertained, neither Walt nor Ub ever said they were inspired by Keaton’s film. But still, with the publication of November 18, 1928 Steamboat Willie similar in name and pure action Steamboat Bill, Jr. It’s hard to believe that Walt and Iwerks weren’t very aware of Keaton’s silent comedy. It’s also a stretch not to believe that the duo, especially marketing expert Walt, saw the deal as an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of one of the biggest stars of the time.

If you’re still in doubt: the fact that Mickey literally whistles in it Steamboat Willie The wildly popular 1910 song “Steamboat Bill,” which inspired Keaton’s film, is as direct a reference as possible to the time nearly 100 years ago

Finally, in 1928 or 2024, copyright or not, the great Oscar Wilde once said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that can lead mediocrity to greatness.”

Jill Goldsmith contributed to this report