The earlier version of Walt Disney Company’s Mickey Mouse mascot from the 1928 short film “Steamboat Willie” has surged to the top spot among nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on the OpenSea marketplace. This popularity followed the entry of the character into the public domain on January 1, as the copyright for this version expired after nearly a century. United States law allows copyright to be held for a maximum of 95 years.
In the wake of the copyright expiration, three NFT collections associated with the vintage mascot claimed the top three positions on OpenSea’s 24-hour trending list. The NFT collection titled “Steamboat Willie Public Domain 2024” secured the number one spot, boasting around $1.2 million in trading volume. The collections “Steamboat Willie” and “Steamboat Willie’s Riverboat” took the second and third spots, respectively. Notably, the Steamboat Willie Public Domain 2024 collection also secured the sixth position on OpenSea’s 24-hour top charts, alongside well-known collections like the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Pudgy Penguins. The Steamboat Willie collection additionally claimed the eighth position on the same list.
Despite the expiration of copyright for this specific version of Mickey Mouse, Disney clarified that modern iterations of the beloved character would remain unaffected. A Disney spokesperson, in a statement to CNN, emphasized the company’s commitment to protecting its rights in the contemporary versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that are still subject to copyright. The spokesperson stated that Disney would actively work to prevent consumer confusion resulting from unauthorized uses of Mickey and their other iconic characters.
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