In 2024, several other highly adored books, plays, movies, and musical compositions will join Mickey’s original film by losing copyright protection.
Rachel Gaius
Decode – Internationally loved movie making company, Disney, has lost its copyright over Mickey Mouse character after 100 years.
This is because the United States law permits copyright to be held for just 95 years, causing Disney’s sole claim to the character to officially end. With this development, it’s not just Mickey Mouse that people can now remix and recreate, but all characters in “Steamboat Willie,” including the first creation of Minnie Mouse.
However, people should not be confused and take this as an opportunity to remake and recreate the current version as the earliest version of the famous character looks quite different from the current one.
The original black and white Mickey doesn’t wear gloves and oversized shoes like the current one, and his eyes are small ovals without pupils. Mickey Mouse donned gloves in 1929 and got its colour in 1935.
Other famous characters like Sherlock Holmes, Winnie the Pooh and Snow White have been part of the public domain. In 2024, several other highly adored books, plays, movies, and musical compositions will join Mickey’s original film by losing copyright protection. Among the characters that will be losing its copyrights is Pooh’s friend, Tigger.
After A.A. Milne’s book, Winnie the Pooh, became public property in 2022, the honey-obsessed bear was reimagined as an ax-wielding protagonist in a 2023 slasher film. Piglet was in the movie, so it is fair to add Tigger as the movie was, indeed, a sequel.
