According to US copyright law, the rights for a character expire 95 years after the publication of the original work. Disney will lose the Mickey Mouse copyright for Steamboat Willie in 2024, since the short animated film was produced and distributed in 1928.
As per the US copyright law, the rights to characters expire 95 years after publication (for works published or registered before 1978). Thus, Disney, which is also called the House of Mouse due to the character, may lose the rights to the character.
The copyright on Mickey Mouse will expire just next year in 2024, 95 years after his first appearance, sending him to the public domain. This copyright applies explicitly to the very first iteration of Mickey Mouse in his animation debut, Steamboat Willie (1928).
What will happen when Mickey Mouse becomes public domain?
U.S. copyright laws grant the creator of content ownership for 95 years, which means famous works eventually enter the public domain. Legally, that means anyone could now copy and reproduce the 1928 version of Mickey Mouse without permission.
When Walt Disney failed to sell Mickey Mouse the first time around, he had to evaluate the features of the product to determine what would satisfy his customers' needs and wants. Disney created a voice and a personality for the mouse character that ended up making the Mickey Mouse's character a huge success.
Disney Is LOSING Ownership Of Mickey Mouse.. Here's Why
Why did Walt Disney change Mickey Mouse?
When his distributor appropriated the rights to the character, Disney altered Oswald's appearance and created a new character that he named Mortimer Mouse; at the urging of his wife, Disney rechristened him Mickey Mouse.
How could that happen? Isn't Mickey the intellectual property of The Walt Disney Company? Yes, however, once a copyrighted work is 94 years old, it loses its copyright and becomes accessible for public use (this is called 'public domain').
But the copyright on the Steamboat-Willie-version will run out in 2024 after 95 years. Initially, copyrights only lasted 28 years. But, due in large part to Disney's lobbying and legal efforts, copyrights were first extended to 75 years, then later to 95 years.
Can Disney keep Mickey Mouse out of public domain?
The Mickey Mouse we recognize today, like this image from Fantasia (1940), will still have copyright protection until 2036. As it stands, Steamboat Willie will enter the public domain on January 1, 2024.
EPS from continuing operations for the nine months ended July 1, 2023 decreased to $1.14 from $1.66 in the prior-year period. Excluding certain items(1), diluted EPS for the nine months ended July 1, 2023 decreased to $2.94 from $3.22 in the prior-year period.
While Disney may no longer have copyright protection for Winnie the Pooh, there are still opportunities for legal recourse that Disney can take. Disney still maintains the rights to the Winnie the Pooh characters created after 1926, including Tigger.
It is the Mickey Mouse shorts that Walt Disney Studios created in 1928, such as Steamboat Willie, that will lose their copyright in 2024, but later shorts, movies, television shows, videos, comic books, artwork, and so on featuring Mickey Mouse will continue to have protection until their individual copyrights expire.
What will happen when Disney loses exclusive rights to Mickey Mouse in 2024?
In January 2024, the copyright on the first story that ever featured Mickey Mouse will expire. This means that nearly 95 years after the first animated short film featuring Mickey Mouse, Disney's most iconic character will enter the public domain.
To utilise Disney characters without violating their rights, you must obtain permission from The Walt Disney Company or its subsidiaries. Its characters are protected by copyright and trademark laws, and unauthorised use can lead to legal consequences.
Walt Disney Co. has controlled the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh since 1961 and kept depictions of Milne's talking animals true to the spirit of the family-friendly material. The copyright expired in January 2022. Since then, Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends have been available to the public for other purposes.
On January 1, 2024, the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse will become public domain. However, don't expect to see any horror movies based on him. Anyone coming close to the trademark or the copyright of the more modern version will be shut down instantly.
As the company shifted to streaming, it seemed set up to lap Netflix and eat the box office at the same time. But today, Disney's stock is at a nine-year low. Operating margins are down 75 percent. Disney+ lost $4 billion last year.
Disney+ lost roughly 11.7 million subscribers worldwide in the three months that ended July 1, for a new total of 146.1 million. All the decline came from a low-priced version of Disney+ in India. Last year, Disney lost a bid to renew the expensive rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches.
Under this act, recordings published before 1923 expired on January 1, 2022; recordings published between 1923 and 1946 will be protected for 100 years after release; recordings published between 1947 and 1956 will be protected for 110 years; and all recordings published after 1956 that were fixed prior to February 15, ...
Disney long term debt for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $44.544B, a 3.21% decline year-over-year. Disney long term debt for 2022 was $45.299B, a 6.68% decline from 2021. Disney long term debt for 2021 was $48.54B, a 8.27% decline from 2020.
What Is Walt Disney's Debt? You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that Walt Disney had US$47.2b of debt in July 2023, down from US$51.6b, one year before. On the flip side, it has US$11.5b in cash leading to net debt of about US$35.7b.
So, Walt Disney formed an entirely new company called WED to power his dream of Disneyland. He borrowed $50,000 — the most allowed — from his life insurance policy to fund Disneyland. He also sold his second house and put his other home in his wife's name to help avoid losing it should he fall into bankruptcy.
