Conversation

Just to be clear: Mickey Mouse being in the public domain doesn't matter and never did, other than Disney being the antagonist promoting copyright term extensions over the course of the 20th century.

What matters is the literally endless list of other works that were kept out of the commons because of Mickey.

Mickey was a reverse-canary in the coal mine. Now that his copyright is finally dead, the rest of culture can finally breathe free.

Image source: https://copyrightlately.com/public-domain-day-2024/