The first big meme of the year is Mickey Mouse finally entering the public domain, which means creators can use the iconic Disney character to create their own projects. Or does it? As this video explains, there is a difference between a character that is copyrighted and one that has a trademark.
Not to mention there is a difference between the original Steamboat Willie cartoon that inspired Mickey Mouse (which is public domain) and all the stories featuring Mickey Mouse or the movies or anything that came after (which is still protected).
This hasn’t stopped creators from releasing a Steamboat Willie themed horror film, which is probably ok since it centers on the character version that is public and doesn’t reference Mickey Mouse at all. While this might fly, legal experts are already exploring what this means for copyright protection and predicting the Disney’s lawyers will be busy in the first half of this year trying to protect the parts of Mickey Mouse they still own.
Mickey Mouse Enters the Public Domain … Here’s What It Means
