The Creator of ‘Satan Shoes’ Launches a New Product to Mock Disney’s Expiring Mickey Mouse Copyright
A token representing Mickey Mouse has been put up for sale — but it’s not by The Walt Disney Company.
MSCHF has launched the “X Famous Mouse.” The company’s ad copy doesn’t call the token “Mickey Mouse” or use its exact imagery — for now — but it’s a placeholder for the iconic character and comes with a unique ticking clock. The idea is you pay for the nondescript mouse-like token today (cost: $100 for one of the 1,000 copies available) and then you receive a physical collectible token for the character that’s redeemable in 2024 — when Disney’s copyright on Mickey Mouse is set to expire. At that time, you’ll receive the real deal.
At this point, you’re probably wondering: Hold up, Disney is going to lose the rights to Mickey Mouse?
The answer is: Yes, but —
The copyright for Walt Disney’s 1928 cartoon Steamboat Willie — which introduced the world to Mickey Mouse — is set to expire and enter the public domain in three years. The rights will include the character Mickey Mouse as he appeared in the film. But in 1988, in an effort to avoid this very same issue, Disney successfully lobbied Congress to lengthen the number of years that copyrights can be held. The law is called the Copyright Term Extension Act but has also also been dubbed “the Mickey Mouse Protection Act.”
