Featured Image Credit: Disney/Jagged Edge Productions/ITN Distribution
Topics: Disney
Joe Harker
Disney runs the risk of famous mascot Mickey Mouse entering the public domain and ending up in a horror movie like Winnie the Pooh.
That's right, if Disney doesn't win its latest legal battle, it could find its most iconic character entering the public domain.
If that was to happen, then anyone can use the character without infringing on copyright or intellectual property – and that's exactly what's happened to Winnie the Pooh, which is why horror movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has been made.
And if there are people out there who would write a film in which Pooh and Piglet are monsters who killed and ate Eeyore, imagine what they could do to Mickey Mouse.
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To understand exactly why this might happen, it's time to dive into the fun, fantastical world of copyright law.
Back in the heady days of 1928 when Mickey Mouse made his cinematic debut in Steamboat Willie, copyright protection laws in the US allowed Disney to keep copyright for the character for 56 years.
These laws were in place to ensure creators got paid for other people using the things they had made, while allowing time for them to eventually enter the public domain and become available to anyone.
However, with the copyright for Mickey Mouse set to expire in 1984, Disney successfully lobbied the US government to pass a new act in 1976 that extended the protection period from 56 years to 75, and then in 1998 it again successfully got that extended to 95 years.
Now, however, the expiration date on Steamboat Willie is looming large once again, and according to the Hollywood Reporter, Republican Senator Josh Hawley has vowed to target 'woke corporations like Disney' and bring the protection period down from 95 years back to 56.
That would mean Disney loses the copyright on Steamboat Willie as well as the character of Mickey Mouse as he appears in it, which means if someone wants to make a horror movie or anything else with him in it, then they will be well within their rights to do so.
If that bill passes, it means a whole host of characters and properties will suddenly enter the public domain, not just Mickey Mouse.
According to Movieweb, the feud between Disney and the Republicans reportedly began after the entertainment giant promised to push for the Parental Rights in Education Law – sometimes referred to as the 'Don't Say Gay' law – to be repealed.
It also reports that while the bill is unlikely to pass, it is probably only a matter of time before Disney can't hold onto the copyright for Mickey Mouse and he enters the public domain.
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