Mickey Mouse copyright expiration inspires horror movies, video games, and memes
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| Don't touch my patent or I'll sue. |
The cartoon rat "Mickey Mouse" will finally appear in new, non-Disney creative works after 95 years of copyright protection of the character expired on Jan. 1, 2024.
With this, early versions of Mickey Mouse are now part of the public domain and non-Disney creators can use them in their own for-profit works (like that time The Simpsons made a Steamboat Willie knockoff segment).
Just in the last two days, independent video game creators and film directors have announced two horror movies and a video game featuring the character, while memes are spreading online showing Mickey in absurd and inappropriate scenes, including nautical accidents and terrorist attacks.
Mickey Hitler fights for Israel, and Donald Hamas gets slaughtered and eaten? The quick capitalization on Mickey’s updated copyright status is the most recent example of how iconic pieces of intellectual property can be quickly remixed and recycled in the digital age for art and profit. Let's hope that rappers don't start drawing comic strips or else it may invent a whole new genre of cartooning that takes over the world.
1928’s “Steamboat Willie” and “Plane Crazy” were the first two Walt Disney Animation releases to feature Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and the former was the first moving picture synced to sound.The characters were first protected under U.S. copyright law for 50 years, then Disney campaigned for and received extensions to further capitalize on the invention against the interests of everyone else.
As Disney’s grip on the intellectual property rights surrounding the earliest versions of Mickey Mouse have come to an end, creators have poked fun at the numerous possibilities that could come from the change. More
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