Welcome to the public domain, Mickey Mouse
Welcome to the public domain, Mickey Mouse
Steamboat Willie finally slips out of copyright today.
Honestly really surprised Disney didn't manage to wiggle a way to extent it
They upgraded their orbital copyright laser cannon into an orbital trademark laser cannon. The beam is narrower and hits fewer targets, but it willl never expire and its firing range is even vaguer than before.
... Again.
They still own the trademark to it as they use it in their intro credits.
I thought Steamboat Willie was public domain. Not Mickey Mouse.
Copyright wise it's both steamboat Willie and the version of Mickey mouse from steamboat Willie.
I thought it was just the steamboat cartoon itself that was public domain - didn't they use Mickey mouse from it as their new animated studios logo (which extended the rights to it?)
It is just Steamboat Willie in the pubkic domain now, including Mickey Mouse as a character, although newer Disney interpretstions of the characters (like gloves) are still under protection. And while Disney can use the original Steamboat Willie as a trademark and protect it through a different avenue, as time goes on they'll inevitably lose their grip on the character.
Trademarks don't have an expiration date - they can be used indefinitely, but they have to be actively used, otherwise they lose their protection. But Disney also can't trademark all the iterstions on Mickey, so some of it will inevitably still seep into the public domain.