Mickey Mouse is now in the public domain. What can you do with him?

After 95 years of fierce copyright safety, Mickey Mouse is formally in the USA public area. It’s solely been 5 days for the reason that copyright expired, and already, Disney’s iconic mouse has appeared in horror movie and video game trailers, wild memes depicting Mickey stirring the Titan submersible, and even an AI generator educated on 96 stills from 1928.

However not so quick. Simply because Mickey is within the public area doesn’t essentially imply you get to show his picture right into a manga or slap it on a T-shirt. Mickey (and Minnie!) first appeared in 1928 within the cartoon movie, Steamboat Willie. As of January 1 this yr, Steamboat Willie entered the general public area. Because of this anybody can share, adapt, or remix the characters portrayed within the cartoon—however there are quite a few caveats and nuances to remember.

The one model of Mickey that’s at the moment within the public area is the one depicted in Steamboat Willie—a vastly totally different character than what’s seen in later Disney movies. In Steamboat Willie, Mickey has small black ovals for eyes; by 1940 (in Fantasia), Mickey’s eyes have developed into giant white ovals with pupils. In Steamboat Willie, Mickey has no gloves; as of 1929, he does. In Steamboat Willie, Mickey is rendered in black and white; in 1935, he’s colorized.

Technically, later variations of Mickey are nonetheless underneath copyright, however you may have some room to play with the character seen in Steamboat Willie. Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Duke Middle for the Examine of the Public Area, wrote in a blog post that “not each characteristic of Mickey’s later iterations is individually copyrightable.” Giving your mouse a squeaky voice is just not copyrightable she says, so your model of the mouse can converse nonetheless you want. Giving your mouse a sure form of persona can be not copyrightable—therefore horror-movie-Mickey.

The plot thickens a bit in terms of a shade scheme. In Steamboat Willie, Mickey is portrayed in black and white, however Jenkins explains you don’t have to stay to a monochrome palette. “I’d actually be thinking about a ballot of copyright consultants on this one,” she advised me in an e mail. “It’s not clear when a shade palette by itself meets the edge necessities for copyrightability.”

For instance, a fully colorized poster from 1928 reveals Mickey Mouse carrying crimson shorts, brown boots, and yellow gloves, however Jenkins notes it’s not clear whether or not the poster was printed for copyright functions, so we will’t affirm whether or not this model of Mickey is honest to make use of. If you wish to be cautious, Jenkins advises steering away from the full-color palette, however you might be welcome to create your very personal shade palette.

The identical pondering applies to Mickey’s gloves. As Jenkins factors out, Mickey donned gloves in 1929, so in 2025, you’ll positively have the ability to put gloves on him. However for now, Jenkins isn’t certain if placing gloves on the character, and even including crimson on the shorts, is even copyrightable. “I believe there’s a very good argument that simply placing gloves on a cartoon character falls wanting this normal, so including gloves is honest sport,” she says. Then including, “You may have the ability to discover consultants who disagree.”

On a separate notice, Disney’s copyright of 1928-era Mickey has now been lifted, however it’s nonetheless trademarked by Disney. This doesn’t preclude you from incorporating Mickey 1.0 into your work. It simply means which you could’t use Mickey 1.0 whether it is prone to mislead customers into pondering a product is made or sponsored by Disney. “Trademark legislation is all about stopping client confusion—and never about getting in the way in which of creativity—so it relies on whether or not persons are prone to be misled concerning the supply of your cartoon,” Jenkins explains. “So long as nobody thinks it’s a Disney joint, there shouldn’t be a trademark downside.”

In different phrases, you’ll be able to’t promote merch with a Mickey Mouse emblem as customers may suppose you might be providing a Disney-sponsored product. You can also’t slap a Mickey Mouse emblem in the beginning of an animated film as customers may suppose the film was produced, endorsed, licensed, or accepted by Disney—and be misled concerning the supply of sponsorship of the film.

What you can do, is make it abundantly clear on the outset that your work has completely nothing to do with Disney. Such a disclaimer might not be sufficient if you happen to’re promoting merch, however in terms of new inventive works, it ought to suffice.