Almost 100 years after featuring in the 1928 film Steamboat Willie, Disney's US copyright in the early versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse has expired, placing their images into the US public domain.

Copyright law

At the time of Steamboat Willie's release, US copyright law protected works for 28 years with an option to extend the term for an additional 28 years. However, the enforcement of the Copyright Act of 1976 resulted in a further extension of 20 years, and two decades later the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, known as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act”, prolonged the protection of works created before 1978 for an additional 20 years. After a 95-year protected period, Disney's US copyright in the early versions of Mickey and Minnie expired on 1 January 2024.

The position differs under UK law, whereby the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 finds that literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works made on or after 1 August 1989 are subject to copyright for 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author of the works dies. 

What this means

Differences in copyright durations per jurisdiction means that while the early Mickey and Minnie Mouse images may be in the US public domain, their images may still be subject to copyright protection in other countries. 

What we can expect next

Disney have reaffirmed that more modern versions of Mickey and Minnie remain subject to copyright, and it is only the original versions of the Steamboat Willie Mickey and Minnie which are now in the US public domain, meaning that any subsequent versions or editions are still protected. 

However, now that these early versions can legally be reworked and reused without permission or cost, creators have been quick to make the most of the new rules as a trailer for a Mickey Mouse horror film, called “Mickey's Mouse Trap”, was released on day of the copyright expiration. Winnie the Pooh was subject to similar treatment with the release of “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey”, a year after A. A. Milne's 1926 book was released into the public domain in 2022. 

Maybe we can expect “Barbie: The Haunting Beauty” in 2054 when the 95-year protected copyright period in the 1959 original works expires…