Starting January 1, Disney will lose its exclusive copyright ownership of the earliest versions of the modern world’s most recognizable and revered children’s icons.
Let the surge of third-party and parody art commence! Disney is set to lose its exclusive copyright over Mickey and Minnie on January 1, 2024, approximately 95 years after the debut of Steamboat Willie, when the earlier versions of both characters enter the public domain. Artists, writers, and laypeople alike will be legally able to ring in the new year with any project imaginable featuring the modern world’s most recognizable and revered children’s icons.
“This is a big one,” said Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain. “It’s generating so much excitement in the copyright community — it’s finally happening.”
Disney was originally set to lose the copyright to Mickey and Minnie in 2004 but benefited from a 20-year extension when Congress extended terms in 1998.
In theory, nothing will be off limits once the free-for-all begins (Let’s not even speak about Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey), but we doubt Disney will go down without a fight. While Dan O’Neill faced major legal percussions in 1971 by creating a pornographic underground comic featuring Mickey and Minnie, adaptations these days are usually more ‘supernatural.’
“‘Just add zombies’ appears to be a popular thing to do,” Jenkins said.
Alongside the Mouse House’s favorite duo, Tigger will also enter the public domain on the first, alongside Lady Chatterley’s Lover, All Quiet on the Western Front, and Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman.
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