A public domain entry was made for the original Mickey Mouse, the mascot of the Walt Disney Company, on January 1, 2024. For the first time in almost a century, anyone can use, copy, alter, or distribute this version of the character without obtaining Disney's consent.
The NFT community is quite interested in Mickey Mouse now that he's in the public domain. The biggest NFT platform in the world, OpenSea, saw three collections of NFTs featuring the character quickly rise to the top three on its 24-hour trending list.
On its first day of trade, the most popular NFT collection, "Steamboat Willie Public Domain 2024," brought in almost $1.2 million. This compilation of Mickey Mouse visuals, motion pictures, and other digital data is from the 1928 short film "Steamboat Willie."
A couple of other well-known Mickey Mouse NFT compilations are "Steamboat Willie" and "Steamboat Willie's Riverboat." On their first day, these collections also produced a high trade volume.
A significant development in popular culture could result from Mickey Mouse's historic admission into the public domain. New experiences, services, and products might be developed with Mickey Mouse NFTs, and they could also serve to pique people's curiosity about Disney culture and history.
The 1928 version's copyright will not expire, Disney said in a statement. This will not affect copies of Mickey Mouse from today. Mickey's contemporary incarnations and other works that are still protected by copyright will continue to be protected, according to the corporation.
We will have to wait and see how the appearance of Mickey Mouse influences the public sphere. However, there is no denying that this event will mark a change in the development of popular culture and technology.
