Don’t take the Mickey: Disney warns on copyright loss

Steamboat Willie, the 1928 short film where Mickey first appeared, will lose copyright in America at the end of next year, potentially opening the door to adaptations using the character.

Mickey Mouse in 1928’s Steamboat Willie.

Mickey Mouse has been synonymous with Disney for almost a century but the company could soon see its mascot popping up in unexpected places.

Steamboat Willie, the 1928 short film where Mickey first appeared, will lose copyright in America at the end of next year, potentially opening the door to adaptations using the character. But Disney, which has aggressively protected its copyright in the courts, could still try to exercise control over Mickey.

Only the Steamboat Willie ­version of the character – a more rudimentary depiction, compared with the drawing of today – is entering the public domain, meaning that any new versions would have to stick closely to the 1928 model.

“People, creative types, are getting excited about the possibilities, that somehow it’s going to be open season on Mickey,” Aaron J Moss, a partner at Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles who specialises in copyright and trademark law, told The New York Times. “But that is a misunderstanding.” He added: “The question is where Disney tries to draw the line on enforcement and if courts get involved.”

Disney has previously used its influence to delay public domain deadlines. A law introduced in 1998 became known as “The Mickey Mouse Protection Act” after the company successfully lobbied US politicians to extend copyright protection. Disney also holds the trademarks to its characters, which companies can renew indefinitely. While copyright protects against unauthorised copies, trademark is designed to shield a company from having its brand identity confused with a rival. Therefore any creation using the original Mickey would have to show clearly that it was not from Disney.

Jane C Ginsburg, an expert on intellectual property law who teaches at Columbia University in New York, said the trademark protection was especially strong in the case of Mickey because the character was so tightly linked with Disney.

The fate of another famous character may offer a warning of what might happen. This year the 1926 Winnie-the-Pooh book by AA Milne entered the public domain and rivals have pounced. There is a slasher film titled Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey that features a version of the bear going on a bloodthirsty rampage.

The Times