In 1928, Disney copyrighted the first version of Mickey Mouse as the steamboat captain Steamboat Willie in a short film of the same name. Ninety-six years later, Steamboat Willie is now the first Mickey Mouse character copyright that is now available to use in the public domain.

A copyright is a form of intellectual property that protects a work’s authorship. This can include literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works such as books, poems, short stories, music, architecture, computer software, and much more. The protection of a copyright generally lasts the length of the author’s life plus an additional seventy years.

Steamboat Willie had many opportunities to enter the public domain: first, in 1955, but it was then renewed to 1986 and then extended to 2003 by the Copyright Act of 1976. Finally, the copyright was extended to 2023 by the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (also known as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act”). The Copyright Term Extension Act was Disney’s last push to keep Steamboat Willie under copyright.  However, the Act only kept Steamboat Willie under copyright until the end of 2023.

So what does this mean? People are now free to use the Steamboat Willie character. They can use only the Mickey Mouse from “Steamboat Willie” with dot-eyes, no color and no gloves; no other version of Mickey Mouse is in the public domain. All other Mickey Mouse characters remain under copyright. Mickey Mouse is also still under a trademark. The trademark of Mickey Mouse will extend so long as Disney continues using the mark.

Moral of the story: Steamboat Willie is free to reuse, but it doesn’t look like Mickey Mouse will be leaving Disney’s grasp for awhile!

 

For help with your intellectual property legal needs, contact the clinic at businessclinic@elon.edu.

 

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