Mickey Mouse Is Now In the Public Domain. Well, Sort Of. ... But two different laws, one passed in 1976 and another in 1998, extended the maximum copyright term, each by twenty years.

M-I-C-K-E-Y will soon belong to you and me. With several asterisks, qualification and caveats, Mickey Mouse in his earliest form will be the leader of the band of characters, films and books that ...

Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain on Jan. 1, marking a milestone in the copyright wars for those fighting to ease restrictions on vintage IP. Plus Icon Film Plus Icon TV ...

The earliest versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse now belong to the American people. The characters as they appear in the animated short films "Steamboat Willie" and "Plane Crazy" entered the U.S ...

In 1998, Congress passed another law later dubbed the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act" that extended the life of copyrights another 20 years, and the 95-year rule is still in place today.

Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse, poses at the Pancoast Hotel in Miami, Fla., on Aug. 13, 1941. An animation innovator, Disney featured his favorite character in "Steamboat Willie," the first ...

On January 1, three early Mickey Mouse cartoons entered the public domain in the US, and AI experimenters have wasted no time taking advantage of it. On Monday, a digital humanities researcher ...

A Walt Disney movie featuring the first appearance of Mickey Mouse moved into the public domain on New Year’s Day. The 1928 short film "Steamboat Willie" introduces audiences to a non-speaking ...