NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: Mickey Mouse in the 1928 short "Steamboat Willie" is not much like Mickey today. He's rough, more of a rascal, says a former Disney Imagineer. RYAN HARMON: Very flat, very ...

And, aside from about a billion Steamboat Willie T-shirts, posters and coffee cups on Etsy, most of the Mouse productions right out of the gate seemed determined to explore the twisted, bloody ...

That means people can creatively reuse only the Mickey Mouse from Steamboat Willie. Not the Mickey Mouse in the 1940 movie Fantasia. ... or maybe sell a T-shirt reproducing a frame from the movie.

The "Steamboat Willie" version of Mickey Mouse became public domain on Jan. 1, 2024. Is Disney losing Mickey? Current artists and creators will be able to make use of Mickey, but with major limits.

A 1928 movie featuring the first appearance of Mickey Mouse enters public domain on Jan. 1. But creative and commercial access to the character is complicated by both copyright and trademark law.

"Steamboat Willie is based on a popular film at the time." Steamboat Bill, Jr. was a Buster Keaton hit that came out earlier that year. Steamboat Willie is a play on its name. "Mickey Mouse made an ...

A 1928 movie featuring the first appearance of Mickey Mouse enters public domain on Jan. 1. But creative and commercial access to the character is complicated by both copyright and trademark law.

A 1928 movie featuring the first appearance of Mickey Mouse enters public domain on Jan. 1. But creative and commercial access to the character is complicated by both copyright and trademark law.

An early Walt Disney movie featuring the first appearance of Mickey Mouse is among the copyrighted works from 1928 moving into the public domain on Jan. 1, 2024. But the cartoon creature who stars in ...