A Walt Disney movie featuring the first appearance of Mickey Mouse moved into the public domain on New Year’s Day. The 1928 short film "Steamboat Willie" introduces audiences to a non-speaking ...

However, some exceptions exist to Disney’s tight grip on its affable mouse. Even the more modern version of Mickey Mouse can be shown for educational purposes, satire or parody, Lee said.

On January 1, the day after Disney's copyright for the earliest version of Mickey Mouse expired in the United States, the trailer for a horror film featuring a masked murderer dressed as the ...

On January 1, 2024, The Walt Disney Company will no longer own the rights to its iconic characters, Mickey and Minnie Mouse. As Mickey and Minnie enter the public domain in the New Year, the ...

The original version of Mickey Mouse from “Steamboat Willie,” an eight-minute short film released in 1928, entered the public domain on Jan. 1, 2024, 96 years from the date of publication.

After nearly a century, Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain on Monday, more than 95 years after the initial release of Steamboat Willie, the first animated short featuring the character.

Mickey isn’t the only classic character to enter the public domain in recent years. On January 1, 2022, the copyright on A. A. Milne’s original Winnie the Pooh character also expired.