Is it Goodbye Mickey Mouse now?
Mickey Mouse, the Disney mascot and one of the most recognizable fictional characters in popular culture and responsible for Disney’s success and growth, might soon leave its owner’s grasp.
In less than two years, the first animated short film featuring the character of Mickey Mouse will be in the public domain and Disney will no longer be able to prevent other artists or companies from using the image of the character under US copyright law.
The character Mickey Mouse first appeared in a 1928 film called ‘Steamboat Willie’ a black and white cartoon then which was a pioneering animation film due to its use of synchronized sound.
Walt Disney and artist Ub Iwerks collaborated on the character’s creation. The anthropomorphic mouse was created as a stand-in for the previous Disney character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is well recognized for its distinctive appearance, which consists of huge yellow shoes, yellow gloves, and red shorts with two white dots.
The distinction of being the first animated character to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame belongs to Mickey Mouse. The majority of the stories include Mickey with supporting characters including his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, his pet Pluto, Donald Duck, and Goofy.
The 1941 Mickey-starring animated short “Lend a Paw” won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
According to the National Museum of American History, Mickey Mouse has undergone a number of physical and psychological changes over the years.
“In his early years, the impish and mischievous Mickey looked more rat-like, with a long pointy nose, black eyes, a smallish body with spindly legs and a long tail,“ the museum states.
Disney has actively pressured lawmakers in the past to alter copyright regulations in their favor and the interests of other businesses with copyrights that are about to expire. The US copyright law doesn’t appear to have undergone any significant modification as of yet, but if it hasn’t, that may mean a significant change.
Caveats in the copyright expiration were disclosed by Daniel Mayeda, associate director of the Documentary Film Legal Clinic at UCLA School of Law.
Mayeda said:
“You can use the Mickey Mouse character as it was originally created to create your own Mickey Mouse stories or stories with this character. But if you do so in a way that people will think of Disney – which is kind of likely because they have been investing in this character for so long – then in theory, Disney could say you violated my trademark.”
When “Steamboat Willie” was first made available, the American copyright term was 56 years. Disney and other groups were successful in influencing lawmakers to pass the Copyright Act of 1976, extending protection to 75 years in the majority of cases while allowing authors who had sold their rights to do so. 56 initial years.
Disney campaigned for a longer extension in 1998, bringing the duration of the public domain to 95 years. No author will outlast his or her copyright, but because mega-corporations like Disney and Warner Bros anticipate living forever, they always demand more protection.
The head of the U.S. Copyright Office and served as the deputy general counsel for the Walt Disney Company for nearly ten years, Suzanne Wilson said:
“Disney has been very active in trying to extend copyright terms, Successfully, they have had their term for Mickey and so forth extended, but I doubt that they’re going to be able to get additional extensions. I think this is going to be the end of the line.”
Watch it here: Youtube/Walt Disney Animation Studios
Sources: Dailywire, Geo.tv, Theguardian
