“Suddenly you can’t make your own Mickey products.”
A lawyer has warned the crypto community about restrictions on using “Steamboat Willie,” a copyright formerly owned by Disney but now in the public domain.
In the year Using a version of Mickey Mouse from the 1928 short film “Steamboat Willie,” non-viable tokens (NFTs) have been added to the trending collectibles list of NFT marketplace OpenSea. One of the collections reached a 24-hour trading volume of 521 Ether (ETH), worth $1.2 million.
Steamboat Willie became public domain just after midnight.
I made @manifoldxyz mint for his first image.
It has a supply of 2,000 and a set worth of .001 ETH (~$2). If not, it will be closed in 24 hours.
The first mint was at midnight,… pic.twitter.com/KmIqgxR6hh
— Alexander Taub (@ajt) January 1, 2024
While this allows people to use the 1928 version of the Disney character, there are limits to what people can do, according to Oscar Franklin Tan, chief legal officer of Atlas and a major contributor to the NFT Platform Engine. Tan told Cointelegraph that while it is “exciting” to see public ownership of a cultural icon celebrated on the blockchain, there are also legal limitations to using the feature. he said:
“The 1928 image of Mickey Mouse, the terrifying black-and-white character with a long nose and no gloves, is in the public domain under US law. Unlike the character Mickey Mouse, the trademark and brand is still personal. You can't suddenly make your own Mickey products.
Tan added that the full-color Wizard Mickey from 1940 is still personal. The lawyer also emphasized that in countries where the legal census is different, the 1928 picture of Mickey is still private.
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In the year When asked about the use of Mickey's image in NFTs in 1928, he said that anyone using it must verify that they are not affiliated with Disney. Tan explained:
“The NFT you saw was specifically called ‘Steamboat Willie,' and that only referred to the 1928 version, even though ‘Mickey' was on the T-shirt. Anyone using the 1928 version of Mickey would like to clarify that their creation or production is not affiliated with Disney, the owner of the trademark.
The lawyer added that copyright law protects artistic expression. However, Tan said trademark law prevents individual identification of a product's source. “So you can't use Steamboat Willie to make anyone think your work is Disney-related.”
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