Mickey Mouse is 89 years old. Under many jurisdictions, the world's most famous mouse would already be in the public domain, but across the pond, he has been protected without much fuss by the shield of copyright. How does he do it? Basically, if you study US intellectual property laws closely, you'll notice that their updates prevent Mickey from falling into the public domain for several more years, as a result of a massive lobbying campaign by Disney…
The Betrayal That Created Mickey
It all started with a betrayal. In early 1927, a very young Walt Disney received a proposal from his distributor, Charles Mintz: Universal Studios needed an animated character, and the plan was for him to develop it. Both Disney and his animation chief Ub Iwerks began working, and thus Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was born. The popularity of the little rabbit exploded, and Disney's studio managed to expand in a short time. A year later, Mintz stabbed him in the back, opened his own studio, "recruited" several of Disney's animators, and declared Oswald as Universal's exclusive mascot. Disney and Iwerks' decision was to create a new character, even more popular than Oswald, with all associated rights under their control. That gave rise to the release of the short film Steamboat Willie and the appearance of none other than Mickey Mouse.
How Copyright Keeps Mickey Out of the Public Domain
Fast forward to today. Mickey will turn 90 on November 18, and somehow he continues to evade the public domain. Understanding the full process requires analyzing US copyright laws a bit. The first one was written in the 18th century, giving a maximum protection of 28 years. Then it was updated later to extend the limit to 42 years, and another update in 1909 took it to 56. Under the 1909 law, our long-eared friend was supposed to enter the public domain in 1984... but eight years earlier, Congress modified it so that all properties in the same situation as Mickey would gain 19 extra years, reaching 75. Mickey's fall into the public domain had been recalibrated to 2003...
... or at least, that was the idea. In 1998, Congress approved another extension (the "Sonny Bono Act"), and the 75 years became 95. This not only benefited Mickey but also his colleagues Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck. That same year, Disney invested almost four million dollars in lobbying, of which 149 thousand were distributed among the main supporters of the extension, which, by the way, was authorized unanimously without open hearings or debate. Today the world is smaller, and as 2023 grows on the horizon, the public will likely keep a close eye on Disney's actions. Could they seek to force another update? Everything suggests so. Mickey is a critical part of Disney's DNA, and at the same time, other characters will benefit (e.g., Superman). To close, a tiny detail: The vast majority of Disney's works are based on public domain works.
