BELOVED ANIMATED RODENT MICKEY MOUSE HAS ENTERED THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. THIS MEANS THAT THE COPYRIGHT ON THE ORIGINAL VERSION HAS EXPIRED, ALLOWING ANYONE TO CREATE AND SELL MICKEY MOUSE PRODUCTS WITHOUT FACING LAWSUITS FROM DISNEY. BUT IS THIS COMPLETELY ACCURATE? ENCORE EXPLORES FURTHER
Before exploring the concept of ‘public domain’, we must briefly outline copyright law. This law safeguards original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, along with sound recordings, films and broadcasts. Copyright arises automatically upon creating an original work, granting rights over copying, adapting, issuing, renting and lending copies to the public. Once the copyright term ends, the original creator loses exclusive rights, allowing anyone to reproduce both the original media and the characters and stories it contains.
But when does the term of copyright expire? This varies from country to country. In Malta, as in the UK and in most countries, works enter the public domain 70 years after the creator’s death. As of January 1, 2025, works by authors and artists who died in 1954 are entering the public domain. On the other hand, in the US the copyright of a creative work expires 95 years after it was released. So in 2025, basically everything released before 1930 is in the public domain.
The children’s book industry greatly benefits from the public domain, frequently republishing classics like Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz, whose copyrights expired long ago. All the great works of classical music are also in the public domain, which is why they are often featured in cartoons and video games.
It may surprise you that Happy Birthday to You was once under copyright, explaining its absence from TV shows and movies. This claim was challenged in 2015 and the song entered the public domain after the purported owners failed to prove their copyright in court. Similarly, Nintendo created Donkey Kong, a clear ripoff of King Kong. Universal Studios sued them but failed to prove their ownership of the King Kong character, who Nintendo successfully demonstrated had fallen into the public domain.
The traditional view of copyright is that granting exclusive reproduction rights to a creator provides a crucial short-term market incentive, but in the long term, we want ideas to become public property so they can be used in new and imaginative ways to advance culture beyond the creator’s original intent.
When a creative work enters into the public domain, so do all of the component parts of that creative work, including the story, characters, setting, the music and so on. However, this is where things start to get sticky, and this is what brings us back to our favourite animated rodent.
Mickey Mouse made his public debut in the 1928 cartoon Steamboat Willie, and given that that cartoon is now in the public domain, so is the character of Mickey Mouse. However, U.S. law also grants copyright protection to what are called ‘increments of expression in derivative works’.
If a copyright holder has made multiple works featuring the same characters and those characters change over time, then those changed versions enjoy unique copyright protection independent of the public domain status of the versions that appeared in the original. Applying this test to Mickey Mouse, it is really only the black and white Steamboat Willie version of Mickey that has entered into the public domain. The full-colour version of Mickey Mouse with his white gloves, red shorts, yellow shoes, cute face and endearing character is still protected by copyright.
It’s also interesting to note that before Mickey Mouse there was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Walt Disney lost the rights to Oswald due to a contract dispute with Universal Pictures. In 1927, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created Oswald for Universal, but the contract stipulated that Universal owned the character. When Disney tried to negotiate for better terms, Universal took advantage of the contract and retained the rights to Oswald. This led Disney to create Mickey Mouse as a replacement character.
Using public domain characters like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Frankenstein, and Peter Pan presents an interesting challenge. While these characters are in the public domain due to their origins in books over a century old, their iconic movie versions are often what come to mind.
These film adaptations, created by studios like MGM, Disney and Universal, introduced distinctive visual interpretations that are copyrightable, even though the characters themselves are not. Therefore, if you want to create merchandise featuring these characters, such as dolls or costumes, you must depict them in a unique way that does not resemble the copyrighted versions from the movies.
When Disney made their 1985 Wizard of Oz movie, they purchased rights to feature Dorothy in ruby slippers from MGM. The original book does not include ruby slippers; they were introduced in the MGM film. Since the MGM version is widely known, Disney feared audiences would be confused if Dorothy wasn’t wearing ruby slippers.
This highlights how iconic movie adaptations can influence public perception and create challenges for new interpretations of public domain characters.
As 20th-century copyrights expire, classic cartoon characters and golden age Hollywood movies are becoming shared cultural property, akin to fairy tales or folklore, enriching our collective heritage.
Photo captions:
Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz
Peter Pan
Photo captions:
Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz
Peter Pan
