Disney Preps to Lose All Rights to Mickey Mouse, Update Reveals Second Character “Retired”

As of January 1, the rights to the infamous Mickey Mouse will be lost from Disney, as the iconic animation will enter the public domain after 100 years with The Walt Disney Company. But Mickey won’t be the only Disney character to enter the public domain.

For those who cherish Disney, their perception of the brand has certainly evolved over time, with new films and theme parks expanding the franchise. However, there remains a consistent and universal symbol that resonates with every fan—the iconic figure of Mickey Mouse, synonymous with the essence of Disney. Beyond any individual movie or theme park, Mickey Mouse stands as the official mascot of the company, and forever embodies the spirit of all things Disney.

Created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in the 1920s, Mickey Mouse has become one of the most cherished and iconic characters in the realm of entertainment. At the time of his creation, Walt Disney could not have anticipated that this little mouse would ultimately alter the course of his life in profound ways. Later also came Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Daisy.

The character made his debut in the animated short film Steamboat Willie, which premiered on November 18, 1928, at the Colony Theatre in New York City, and would only go on to star in more short films, and then TV shows like The Mickey Mouse Club and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Most recently, in 2020, Disney reintroduced Mickey in a new animation via The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, however, they retired the show this year, just months before they were set to lose the rights to Mickey Mouse himself.

While we knew that Mickey would enter the public domain in 2024, Variety has gone into further detail on the subject. The publication noted, “Mickey and Minnie will enter the public domain on Jan. 1. From then on, Disney will no longer enjoy an exclusive copyright over the earliest versions of the characters. Underground cartoonists, filmmakers, novelists, songwriters — whoever — will be free to do what they want with them.”

“This is a big one,” said Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain. “It’s generating so much excitement in the copyright community — it’s finally happening.”

On January 1st each year, Jenkins commemorates Public Domain Day by releasing an extensive list of works that are now available for artists to freely remix and reimagine. This year’s compilation includes Tigger, who, akin to Mickey Mouse, made his initial appearance in 1928. So, not only will Mickey Mouse be entering the public domain, but Tigger from Winnie the Pooh will as well. Winnie the Pooh himself had already entered the public domain prior.

Now, Jenkins is assuming that there will be very odd renditions and stories featuring Mickey Mouse that Disney would have never done. The Great Gatsby entered the public domain, and then The Great Gatsby Undead popped up on Amazon on Jan. 2, 2021, followed by The Great Gatsby and the Zombies.

Another example of people skewing the original character or story once entering public domain can be seen via Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, the slasher film that made several critics’ lists of the worst films of 2023. That is certainly not something Disney would have placed their name on.

Now, anyone will have the ability to do the same to Mickey Mouse in just a few days.

“A lot of people do lots of things,” said Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard law professor who has written and advocated extensively on copyright issues. “This is the thing that people in Hollywood are not focused on. There’s an extraordinary range of people who create just for the love of creativity.”

Lessig is the one who coined and fought against “the Mickey Mouse Protection Act”, which was titled after a 20-year extension was put in place in 2004 over the animation. “It’s significant,” Lessig said. “Let’s hope it’s the opening of a new chapter.”

Even after January 1, Disney will employ measures to safeguard Mickey Mouse. The company will preserve copyrights for the character’s more contemporary iterations for an additional period. Furthermore, Disney has expressed its intention to uphold its trademarks, potentially imposing restrictions on the creative liberties of other artists. This means that there will still be many versions of Mickey that Disney will be able to sue over.

It will be interesting to see what Disney does in terms of highlighting other characters instead, essentially replacing Mickey Mouse. 

What do you think about Disney losing the rights to Mickey Mouse? 

This post is originally appeared on Inside the Magic.