While the copyright has expired for the older version of the character, Disney reminded the public that modern versions remain unaffected.
An earlier version of Walt Disney Company’s Mickey Mouse mascot has become the number 1 trending nonfungible token (NFT) at the OpenSea marketplace after it entered the public domain for the first time.
On Jan. 1, a version of Mickey featured in the 1928 short film “Steamboat Willie” became publicly available after its copyright reached its limit. Steamboat Willie was the first publicly distributed appearance of Mickey Mouse. After almost a century, Disney’s claim to this version of the character ended because United States law only allows copyright to be held for 95 years.
Following the copyright expiration, three NFT collections related to the old mascot took the top three spots on OpenSea’s 24-hour trending list. The NFT collection titled “Steamboat Willie Public Domain 2024” has hit the number one spot after getting around $1.2 million in trading volume. Another collection called “Steamboat Willie” took the number two spot on the list, while “Steamboat Willie’s Riverboat” took the third highest ranking.
