According to multiple British media reports, the copyright protection period for Mickey Mouse, the iconic animated character of the American Disney Company, is about to expire. Disney may soon lose exclusive rights to the 95-year-old image. Walt Disney, the founder of the America

According to reports from many British media, the copyright protection period of Disney's iconic animated characters Mickey Mouse is about to expire. The Disney Company may soon lose the exclusive rights to this 95-year-old image.

Walt Disney, the founder of the American Disney Company, created the animated character "Mickey Mouse" in 1928 and made his debut in the "Steamboat Willie" movie in the same year.

For a long time, Mickey Mouse has become a symbol of the Disney Company. It generates billions of dollars in revenue for Disney every year.

As early as 2003, "Forbes" magazine listed Mickey Mouse and his friends as the first place in the "Fictional Rich List" with a net worth of US$5.8 billion. The American Time Magazine also listed it in 2008 On this occasion, he was certified as "one of the most recognizable characters in the world", once surpassing Santa Claus. And in the history of the United States, Mickey was also the first animated star to leave his name on the Avenue of Stars in 1978, the year of Mickey Mouse's 50th birthday.

However, US copyright protection law stipulates that the copyright protection period of this image is 95 years. This means that two years later, starting in 2024, the image of Mickey Mouse will automatically enter the public domain. According to the British "Mirror", after this, anyone who wants to use the image of Mickey Mouse can use it at will without applying or paying copyright fees.

Before the current copyright law was promulgated in the United States in 1998, it experienced two changes in copyright laws. This was inseparable from the powerful lobbying activities of , Disney, and behind it.

The first change to U.S. copyright law occurred in the 1970s. At that time, the copyright term was 56 years. According to the laws at the time, Disney would lose Mickey's copyright in 1984. However, after strong lobbying by Disney and other companies, the U.S. Congress passed the extension of the copyright term. was changed to the life of the creator plus 50 years after death, and the company's copyright was extended to 75 years after the work was published.

The second time was in 1998. When the 75-year copyright period of the works created in 1923 was about to expire, Disney once again lobbied and the new copyright law, nicknamed the "Mickey Mouse Extension Act", was passed in 1998. Copyright The protection period was extended again by 20 years, eventually becoming 95 years.

As of now, it is unclear whether Disney will take additional actions to extend the copyright protection period, and the company has not made relevant comments. However, even after Mickey Mouse's copyright expires, Disney can still register Mickey as a trademark to prevent others from using it.