Why it matters: When creative works enter the Public Domain (PD), exclusive intellectual property rights cease to exist. Users and creators can make (almost) whatever they want with such content ...

Disney Mickey Mouse Is Now In the Public Domain. Well, Sort Of. Even though only one very specific version of the character is free to use, it still represents a positive step for creative ...

January 1, 2024, has long been circled on the calendars of public domain watchers, but some say it serves to show how overlong it takes for U.S. works to go public, and many properties with less ...

The version of Mickey Mouse seen in Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy enters the public domain alongside the play Peter Pan, the song “Mack the Knife,” and more.

The Winnie-the-Pooh now in the public domain is the version drawn by E.H. Shepard in 1926, rather than the red t -shirted, bare-bottomed creation that Disney popularised in 1966.