2023-12-31 19:55:39
Nearly a century following his arrival on cinema screens, the famous Mickey mouse will enter the public domain on Monday. This change in status opens the way to potential revivals, adaptations and derivative products, but also to legal battles with Disney.
The copyright of the cartoon “Willie’s Steamboat”, a black and white short film from 1928 which introduced the general public to this rodent which had become a global icon, expires on January 1, following 95 years, under American law.
This deadline is well known to filmmakers, fans, lawyers specializing in intellectual property and even managers of the American entertainment group Disney, who have succeeded in the past in extending the duration of these copyrights.
“This is a deeply symbolic and highly anticipated moment,” said Jennifer Jenkins, a public domain specialist at Duke University.
Soon environmentalist or feminist versions?
Anyone will now be able to freely copy, share or adapt “Willie’s Steamboat” and “Plane Crazy”, another animated short film from 1928, as well as use the first versions of the characters appearing there, including Mickey and his companion Minnie.
Artists will thus have the right to create a “version to raise awareness of climate change” of “Willie’s Steamboat”, in which the ship runs aground on the bed of a dry river, or even a feminist version, in which Minnie would hold the helm, suggests Jennifer Jenkins.
Later versions of the characters, including those appearing in the cartoon “Fantasia”, released in 1940, remain outside the public domain and cannot be copied without Disney’s approval. “What’s in the public domain is this kind of scary little black-and-white animal,” says Justin Hughes, a law professor at Loyola University.
Subsequent versions of the characters indeed remain outside the public domain. [John Raoux – Keystone]
“Legal skirmishes”
“The Mickey Mouse most familiar to current generations of Americans will remain under copyright protection,” he continues, saying he expects “this will give rise to legal skirmishes.” The character appearing in these first cartoons is a filiform and mischievous creature, quite far from the current appearance of the mascot.
Formal notices might thus be sent to creators who dare to use more recent elements of the character, such as his red shorts or his white gloves, predicts the researcher.
Furthermore, if copyright ends on January 1, this is not the case for those protecting the registered trademark.
The former prohibit the unlicensed reproduction of the creative work and expire following a given period. The latter protect the source of the work once morest products that might mislead consumers into believing that it comes from the original creator. These rights can be renewed indefinitely.
furr/ats
1704067064
#version #Mickey #Mouse #enter #public #domain #January #rts.ch
