#plane crazy

So Steamboat Willie is now public domain

Everyone’s been preparing for this moment for a long time, ever since Disney got copyright laws extended in 1998. Already, there’s been a lot of people uploading the shorts everywhere without consequence to stick it to the man, and I’ve seen more dark and twisted interpretations of Steamboat Willie in 5 days than my entire life. It’s all been fascinating to see, and while I would be one to participate in such squalor, I’m holding off some energy for next year’s copyright expirations.

12 more Mickey Mouse shorts enter the public domain next year, and conveniently enough, it’s the rest of the catalogue to be animated by Ub Iwerks. That gives me the opportunity to make a video documentary about “the early years of Mickey Mouse”, going frame by frame if I want to, without any threat of a takedown. Of course, I like to believe nearly all my videos are protected under the purposes of analysis and critique, but you can never be too careful with companies like Disney. And that’s just what I plan to be when I make that video next year- too careful.

Milestones that expire next year include:

-The Opry House, the first time Mickey wears gloves in a cartoon

-The Plowboy, the first appearance of Horace Horsecollar (and maybe of Clarabelle Cow)

-The Carnival Kid, Mickey’s first audible dialogue (meaning you better be careful to not use his iconic falsetto voice for the meantime)

-Mickey’s Follies, the first appearance of original Mickey Mouse theme song, Minnie’s Yoo Hoo

Mickey art by @foxestacado; Magic Kingdom photo by @heidi8.

I took my first Copyright Law class in 1993; just after the term concluded, certain motion pictures had their copyrights restored because of NAFTA, but the copyright terms for things like the Marx Bros' Animal Crackers, and yes, the original Mickey Mouse cartoons including Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy were supposed to expire by the early 2000s, free for use by anyone, for any purpose (other than trademark infringement).

As we all know, they did not; the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act stretched the term from 75 years to 95 years after first publication, keeping the public domain closed for 20 years -- but those 95 years expire at midnight on January 1, 2024 for Steamboat Willie -- as well as Virginia Woolf's Orlando, the picture book Millions of Cats, a few of my favorite songs from Burt Kalmar & Harry Ruby, and the first sound recording of "Yes! We Have No Bananas!"

What does this mean for creativity? It's unpredictable! Will there be more productions of Threepenny Opera? Stage musical versions of Animal Crackers -- or Marx Bros VR? More tiktoks and YouTube videos set to songs our great grandparents enjoyed, now that the sea shanty trend is over? Will there be horror movie versions of early Mickey cartoons, the way some indie filmmakers did a horror movie version of Winnie the Pooh when the first Milne book went into the public domain a few years ago? Will there be a sequel to that horror film featuring Tigger now that His Bounciness is entering the public domain? Will I do a video setting Mickey to "Mack the Knife"? Perhaps!

But I and everyone else needs to remember that Disney still holds trademark rights in Mickey Mouse -- the original version and the evolutions since -- so it'll be important to include a disclaimer or notice that any follow-on work based on things in the public domain is not owned, created or distributed by Disney or the other relevant brand-owner.

What will I be doing to mark the occasion? I'm planning on celebrating the public domain moment *at* Walt Disney World; I need to feel it in my soul; I expect fireworks, and absolutely no recognition from anyone other than me (and possibly my family who tolerate my ridiculousness on this) about the momentousness of the moment. I may livestream it.