As other Disney characters follow Mickey Mouse to public domain, experts discuss company’s legal options

An early iteration of Mickey Mouse has entered the public domain alongside Winnie-the-Pooh, Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood, signaling potential legal action by companies like Disney and Warner Bros. and a swathe of new creations based on the iconic characters.  

Technology executive and AI expert Marva Bailer told Fox News Digital that Mickey and other characters, such as King Kong and Frankenstein, are now open creative elements that can be legally utilized or referenced without the permission of the original IP owner.

Using marketing, creative and social media tools like TikTok and AI, the average content creator or new media professional can now monetize these entertainment symbols.

One such instance of public domain characters being used for non-traditional entertainment endeavors came in February 2023, when the film "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" was released.

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While the film received overwhelmingly abysmal reviews, it was a financial success. Grossing $5.2 million worldwide, the film was made for only $100,000, meaning it grossed over 50 times its production budget.

The average big blockbuster typically only makes between 2 and 4 times its production budget.

On January 1, the day after Disney's copyright for the earliest version of Mickey Mouse expired in the United States, the trailer for a horror film featuring a masked murderer dressed as the iconic children's character was released.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that other classic characters entering the public domain will also receive the slasher treatment, including "Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare" and "Bambi: The Reckoning."

"These beloved children's characters can take on new personalities that are opposite to the brand with no legal ramifications," Bailer said. "Today, we see a trend of personalities and brands planning for the next 50 years with the use of digital technologies to manage their legacy for eternity."

Nicholas Creel, an assistant professor of business law at Georgia College & State University, said various incarnations of famous characters have their own copyright set to expire at different times.

For example, the Mickey Mouse that just became public domain at the start of 2024 is known as "Steamboat Willie." This iteration of the character cannot speak, has a long tail, does not have pupils and is drawn in black and white. Meanwhile, the version of Mickey from Fantasia, complete with his blue sorcerer's hat, is much more well-known in the modern era and will not enter the public domain for another ten years.

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Creel suggested that creators who stray further away from Steamboat Willie and towards later versions of Mickey Mouse are more likely to find themselves in a "precarious position" should Disney engage in legal action.

He also noted that copyright and trademarks are very different and all things Mickey Mouse are heavily trademarked by Disney. Additionally, unlike copyrights, trademarks can be renewed every ten years indefinitely.

"Disney will still possess a lot of signature symbols affiliated with Mickey Mouse thanks to those trademarks they've kept up with," Creel said. "As such, using the name 'Mickey Mouse' or trying to utilize Disney's signature logo featuring his image is still something you could get in a lot of legal trouble for, depending on how aggressive Disney wants to be in pushing to protect these intellectual properties."

Once an IP has reached the public domain, it does not stop the initial copyright holder from using the characters, but it does mean that anyone else can now share in the creative process and potential profits.

As Copyright.gov notes, "a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years." Before this date, works were protected for 95 years in the United States.

Over the years, Disney has lobbied extensively to extend the duration of copyright protection laws. Their efforts were so significant that critics and historians often refer to the latest version of copyright law as "the Mickey Mouse Protection Act."

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However, there is a reason Disney has yet to start a congressional campaign to impact copyright laws this time around, according to University of Tennessee at Martin media studies instructor Alex Beene.

"Over the last 30 years, the company has produced many additional streams of revenue with other intellectual properties - like Marvel superheroes and Star Wars – that still have decades to go before entering the public domain," he said.

While Mickey Mouse is still valuable to the company as a company and theme park figurehead, Beene said the original animated short version of the character equates to less and less of their bottom line.

"The real test of whether these current laws could remain in place long-term may come from companies other than Disney in the coming years," he added. "Unlike Mickey Mouse, Batman is still an active cinematic franchise that brings in billions for Warner Bros., yet the character will enter the public domain in 2034. While there will be limits to what he can and can't be used for, I could see other companies being nervous about what losing exclusivity could mean for their profits."

Michael Risch, the vice dean and a professor at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, said companies have likely been planning for this eventuality over the last several decades.

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To do this, Disney will argue trademark infringement if a company tries to use the now public domain character to sell a product. This legal avenue still needs to be tested; as Risch notes, a law limits the use of expired copyright as a trademark.

Risch highlighted the use of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" by United Air Lines as an example of this potential conundrum. In the 1980s, United secured the rights to the tune for an annual fee of $300,000. The song eventually became synonymous with the brand and was featured in a plethora of advertisements.

"Does that mean another airline can use the same Gershwin tune for their airline commercial because it's the public domain? On the one hand, you'd say, sure, because it's in the public domain. Anybody can use the music and play it whenever they want it. On the other hand, if you're using a particular clip to sell a competing good that has nothing to do with the clip, maybe that's an issue. And that's going to be the next frontier in my mind," he said.

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But Risch also said that companies like Disney need to focus on creating new intellectual property to mitigate lost profits adequately.

"It's a testament to the staying power of these companies that these characters are still making money for them so long into the future. But, you know, if you want to build and grow, you have to at some point make something new. And the companies have made something new even as they exploit their own franchises," he added.

The characters of Pluto, Donald Duck, Superman, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and James Bond will also become public domain within the next decade.