He January 1, 2024 something changed forever in the world of entertainment. The famous and tender little mouse Mickey Mouse with his girlfriend Minnie, entered the public domainfor having passed 95 years since its first publication. And although it is a rule that happens every year, this time it was the first person’s turn to the Disney empire and one of the most important icons in the history of the industry, so in a matter of hours, they began to emerge in the media video games, shorts and even brand new movie titles. Of course, the good image of the mouse mutates in this way into the most varied of human emotions, then his charming smile ends up becoming, as in one of the examples, a macabre grimace of terror. What Walt never imagined when he designed his iconic figure is reality today.
Judicial process
The technical and legal issue is the following: every January 1, on the 95th anniversary of the first publication of any literary creation, the copyright of the person who registered it or of the heirs who own it, are released and They begin to belong to the public domain. Intellectual property law in the United States explains in its progress clause, that under this regulation, once the time of private domain has ended, By exempting duties, the creativity of the industry is encouraged and new products are generated.. In this way, any author can work with these images as if they were his basic idea or raw material and readapt it, copy it or include it in his new work. It should be noted that Disney made a large part of his empire with characters created by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm who were already released when his studios gave him life in their historic films, such as “Snow White”, “Cinderella” and “Rapunzel”among many others.
So anyone can make a movie or cartoon with Mickey Mouse as the protagonist? The truth is that no. The only thing that is released from the mouse and his girlfriend is the figure of the first three animated shorts that were published in 1928, “Willie’s Steamboat”, “The Crazy Plane” and “The Galloping Gaucho”. Those who want to copy it must be in black and white and without using the name. In this way, Disney’s law firm has already prepared a demand structure to send to any company that uses the full name or derivatives of Mickey Mouse, such as the already announced horror movie. “Mickey’s Mouse Trap”where in the trailer you can see a serial killer killing his victims under a disguise of the Mickey who knew how to steer the remembered steamboat.
On the same January 1 of this year, a few dozen creations were also held, among which also stands out Peter Pan, the creation of the Scottish novelist James Matthew Barrie, who made his formal appearance in 1904 but due to legal registration issues it was not considered published for copyright purposes until 1928. It should be noted on this occasion that what was released is not the character dressed in green made by Walt Disney, since this was published in 1953, but the original, theatrical version of 1904 under the title “Peter Pan and Wendy”. Under this rule, two years ago the rights to Winnie the Pooh were released and “Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey” emerged, considered by specialized critics as one of the ten worst films of 2023.
At the national level, there is the figure of paying public domain, which details that it is not necessary to ask for permission to use the work but you do have to pay a tax to the National Fund for the Arts, a collective management entity that promotes the work of artists and authors. through subsidies, scholarships and prizes. Currently this organization is in conflict due to the new Government’s project to eliminate it.
Everything that follows from here on out will be a minefield planted by Disney’s own lawyers for all those creatives who intend to use the image of the famous mouse. It is that a multinational like Disney will not let go of its iconic image so easily and thus open his empire so that any bad idea bastardizes his identity. Legal devices, muzzles and all possible protections will be included in the courts of the world in order to eternally shield all its characters. Because now they are the first sketches of Mickey and Minnie but in a few years the same ones will continue in color and all the other members of Disneyland, like the Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto and all the princesses with their respective pets and villains.
For now and already rubbing their hands, the filmmakers of other people’s work are anxiously awaiting the release of the rights of Popeyethese days, since its first appearance was on January 17, 1929 in the comic strip Timble Theater of The New York Evening Journal newspaper. king kong January 1, 2028 (the first showing of King Kong was March 7, 1933, at Radio City Music Hall in New York), supermanin 2033 and a year later, batman.
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