On January 1st, Mickey Mouse, the most famous mouse in the world, made headlines worldwide, mentioning he entered the public domain as the copyright protection term on STEAMBOAT WILLIE expired. Many people believed anyone could use the iconic character without authorization from its owner, Disney.
First, we must define the term “public domain”. The World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, has defined it as:
“As far as intellectual property (IP) law is concerned, “public domain” is generally understood as any intangible asset that is not subject to exclusive IP rights and can therefore be freely used or exploited by anyone.”[1].
This means that all intangible assets that do not have a holder of rights entitled to prevent their exploitation or to demand the payment of compensation are in the public domain.
Does this open the door for anyone to use the Mickey Mouse figure? No, not at all.
It is important to clarify that the most famous work that entered the public domain is STEAMBOAT WILLIE, which many of us will not identify by its name, but by its iconic scene: Mickey Mouse captaining a boat while whistling. This scene is included at the beginning of many Disney productions. Other less famous scenes, henceforth, can also be reproduced and exploited by anyone[2].
Are there people taking advantage of this opportunity? Of course, we can already find on YouTube uploads of the scene which, because of what we have just explained, cannot be removed from this platform based on copyright infringement. On the contrary, they would be able to benefit commercially from the number of views, which are not few, largely due to the publicity given to this event.
One example is a video uploaded to this platform on January 1st by CORRIDOR, which in less than 48 hours was close to reaching one million views.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmzO–ox7X0
To sum up, can STEAMBOAT WILLIE be used freely, without any authorization, or without having to pay or retribute in any way to Disney? The answer is YES.
Can Mickey or Minnie Mouse be used freely? The answer is NO. Their protection extends far beyond this short scene. All works created subsequently are still protected and maintain rights around the world.
This iconic character’s presence in the market makes its isolated and indiscriminate use impossible without proper authorization from Disney. Its notoriety is evident and will be protected by the legislation of each country for a very long time.
Mickey is the boss in the Disney world and will continue to be for many years to come.
[1] Comité Intergubernamental sobre Propiedad Intelectual y Recursos Genéticos, Conocimientos Tradicionales y Folclore – WIPO/GRTKF/IC/17/INF/8 (24/11/2010) https://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/tk/es/wipo_grtkf_ic_17/wipo_grtkf_ic_17_inf_8.pdf
[2] Plane Crazy, The Gallopin Gaucho
Eduardo Rios
Partner at CorralRosales
eduardo@corralrosales.com