Steamboat Willie is in the public domain! An explainer for public domain Mickey Mouse.

[@iam-py-test]

Awesome explanation of the public domain and Steamboat Willie. Thank you

[@TonyOkumura]

I love how the entire cartoon played and now KZbin and Disney can’t do anything about it!

[@MitsyWuzHere]

You know KZbin would be perfectly happy to not be required to enforce copyright law right?

[@thiscat9712]

Disney still claimed me

[@ranelgallardo7031]

@@MitsyWuzHerethey can’t now

[@jcblocka7477]

​@@ranelgallardo7031 KZbin can take any video down as they please.

[@paologalvez7555]

For the love of god, I swear that when i read the title i see "Domain expansion" only for that i give You a like

[@republicansarepedos2]

Malevolent Kitchen!

[@ak79999]

Great video!

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

Thanks!

[@stitchfan_8290]

About the gloves. Although mickey is not wearing gloves in the cartoon, he is in the title card and end card. As they are part of the cartoon as a hole wood that not clear it for copyright?

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

Oh interesting! I actually didn't notice that. :) Great question.

[@TevyaSmolka]

Question how do you upload this short without getting copyright claimed just wondering?

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

Well in my case, ContentID isn't flagging it because the original sound isn't loud enough.

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@ProfessorCaseyFiesler ah so if the sound is super low and i put my own commentary it could go through or maybe not get blocked in other territories.

[@denholmspurr7211]

Really enjoyed your explanation of public demand in and the history of Disneys dependence on it but I still don’t quite understand how trademark law interacts with steamboat Mickey, which is the most complicated part! Can you direct to any good explanations of how this works in practice?

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

This is the best discussion of this I've seen! web.law.duke.edu/cspd/mickey/

[@Bobzilla2023]

Now here’s my question. In our own works are we leagally allowed to still call/name out version of the character “Mickey Mouse”? Or do we have to change his name up a bit to prevent and stop trademark infringement?

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

This is an excellent question that I am not willing to answer. :)

[@Bobzilla2023]

@@ProfessorCaseyFiesler dang. Ok. Thank you for responding tho, I guess not everyone knows about trademarks.

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

I mean I have an answer but I suspect it would be different than what Disney’s lawyers would say and I try not to say things that might be interpreted as legal advice.

[@Bobzilla2023]

@@ProfessorCaseyFiesler Understood. My apologies. Thank you very much.

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

@Bobzilla2023 no problem at all! It is a good question.

[@h4bicatani]

I don't understand something, I recently remade the entirety of steamboat willie in a retro video game style and was publishing it today, but I couldn't post it to KZbin because it has copyright material, but it doesn't anymore, everyone else is posting it with no editing or anything and it's not being taken down, am I doing something wrong??

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

What kind of copyright violation? If ContentID flagged it, it should tell you exactly what the copyrighted material was and who claimed it.

[@h4bicatani]

It doesn't all I get is "Video is blocked in some territories for copyright material"@@ProfessorCaseyFiesler

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

Well copyright terms are different in different countries so it’s possible YT is already making that distinction.

[@R3valv3r]

The usage of this particular mouse in this particular fashion is free. While all characters and sounds used in this year of steamboat willie and video are also free to use? Everything in this video is good to use under public domain?

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

The entirety of this video is no longer protected by copyright.

[@cartergamegeek]

But you will face trademark charges as Disney has a few flags over using some of the film as a logo and as other brand ID markers. So as we iron out this dumb use of trademark law you might get a few auto flags on KZbin or other take downs until Disney is kind of forced to stop using trademark to bypass the copyright going away. So watch it with the uses as people are getting flagged over trademarks when the work is public and should be safe.

[@R3valv3r]

@@cartergamegeek that’s interesting 🧐 I appreciate your input.

[@Acermani456]

What about Kimba the White Lion? The copyright expired years ago for Kimba. I get the whole trademark thing, but what about the modern day version of Kimba? What if somebody to make a Kimba the White Lion movie? Like, for example like Sony, Paramount or even Warner Bros?

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

Hmmm are you sure the copyright expired? I just looked it up and it looks like Kimba originated in the 1950s?

[@classic7577]

Could you please make a video about how you plan your weekly jobs and show us your daily routine? It would ge good to learn how to balance teaching and research. 😊

[@turnonmyaxel]

Hi, I've seen a lot of people say stuff like "Put Mickey on a t-shirt!!!! It's your legal right" u sourced when a couple articles are saying that's legally dicey. Has this come up in your research do you know if we can sell steamboat Willie t-shirt or is disney trademark covered by that (which I think it is)

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

This is the best discussion of this issue I've seen (near the bottom, "What about Disney’s trademark over Mickey?"): web.law.duke.edu/cspd/mickey/

[@cartergamegeek]

Guy in Canada sold a monochrome Mickey shirt and got away with it so you can get away with it if you do it right. He had a shirt that had color get flagged but as soon as the color was removed they let him sell it.

[@Cartoonicus]

So how does "Plane Crazy" fit into this? Was it just never copyrighted?

[@SandwitchZebra]

Silent Plane Crazy is public domain. The version with sound is still out of our reach until next year

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

The commenter below is correct! Though also my understanding is that the silent version of Plane Crazy wasn't distributed (just to test audiences) so Steamboat Willie was the first appearance of Mickey Mouse that was released.

[@Cartoonicus]

@@ProfessorCaseyFiesler If that's the case, then Steamboat Willie might actuall be the first Mickey cartoon,after all, if it means they did't actually release Plane Crazy until AFTER Steamboat Willy was released. I always thought Disney just didn't want to aknowledge it's existnce, but now I wonder.

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

@@Cartoonicus Yes, that's my understanding. Plane Crazy was made first but Steamboat Willie was released first.

[@cartergamegeek]

@@ProfessorCaseyFiesler Plane Crazy was hated and nobody wanted to invest in making more films using the character. Steamboat Willie was to try mixing sound and animation and everybody loved it so Steamboat Willie was the first film they charged for.

[@Nekotaku_TV2]

What about the song in the film? Just got a copyright restriction on that part.

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

Altogether, or just for certain countries? In any case, in the U.S. the whole thing is out of copyright protection, yes. But it's possible ContentID is still flagging the sound.

[@Nekotaku_TV2]

@@ProfessorCaseyFiesler For certain countries.

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

Steamboat Willie is public domain in the US but not everywhere.

[@raisinbran1001]

Does this mean the whistle is free for anyone to use as well? In music for example?

[@cartergamegeek]

That was a remix of a public song so first off when they used it they used a public domain song at the time. But because the film 100% public now all sounds in it are fine other than the fact Disney used that song as a logo so don't try using it as a logo and when trademark flags go off we all need to try and fight the fact that the film is public and the audio in it is a packaged deal. Slow burn for now as we deal with the fact that the whole film is public but parts are trademarked for logos Disney has so they are trying to keep the rights by tossing around trademarks when the copyright is now up.

[@RocKnight11]

Does this mean Mickey Mouse (the Steamboat Willie version) could be a DLC character in Mortal Kombat?

[@christopherknight1890]

if the supreme court ruled that the limit is whatever congress wants could they vote to shorten it?

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

Yep!

[@MrJoshinJosh]

I’ll be glad once The Mickey Mouse Club will enter The Public Domain despite the fact that I have to wait at least 26 more years for that to officially happen😐

[@Alex-wo1bs]

Animation won today🎉🎉😐🎉

[@MickeyloverMelvin]

No animation lost today. People with no creativity stealing other people's work.

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

@MickeyloverMelvin I mean if that’s the case then your statement applies ten fold to Disney.

[@TJTaylor17]

Was the creepypasta su!c!de mouse illegal then or am I dumb?

[@ProfessorCaseyFiesler]

I don't know what that is! But it's entirely possible it was fair use.

[@tilldream8622]

For context: I think it's a made up Creepypasta story about a "Lost Mickey Mouse Cartoon" that lasts for around 9 minutes of screentime. At first it's a loop of mickey walking in the sidewalk of a ghost town for a few minutes before the screen cuts to black for a bit before later cutting back to mickey walking again, only to slowly be overwhelmed by noises of agony and screaming that are heard in the background. as the recording continues to get darker, mickey starts running faster and faster until mickey simply just died. And it's said that the executive that watched it simply just [Y'know the rest] "Btw this is fictional and that none of this really happened."

[@TJTaylor17]

@@tilldream8622 Thanks for the explanation

[@Brinah]

Exactly 1 year ago today!😊

[@StormDiper]

W video

[@zcorpalpha2462]

I noticed you Quit 🥃🔥

[@gablit-gt8kk]

I want to time travel

[@brandonstevens300]

Good luck monetizing it. KZbin is still copyright demonetizing it.