Starting with Steamboat Willie, more classic movies and characters entering the public domain will make Hollywood’s IP problem even worse. Over the last few years, decades-long copyrights have finally expired, ushering well-known, money-making titles into the public domain. For a while, the trend zeroed in on books making the big leap to fair-use territory. In 2021, for example, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s enduring novel The Great Gatsby, which was first published in 1925, entered the public domain for the first time in its 95-year history. Pretty immediately, creatives seized on the opportunity to publish Gatsby sequels, spin-offs, and re-imaginings.
Now, Hollywood is at the center of expiring copyright law protections. While plenty of silent films have been in the public domain for years, 2022 was a particularly important year. In 1927, Warner Bros. Pictures released The Jazz Singer — the first feature-length movie with synchronized dialogue and sound. Dubbed a “talkie,” The Jazz Singer broke new ground on a new industry standard. Most significant pictures that followed Hollywood’s first talking movie relied on dialogue and music, on sounds synchronized to the actors’ physical performances. For that reason, many of the movies poised to enter the public domain now have real staying power, which isn’t purely a good thing.
Why Steamboat Willie & Other Movies Are Now In The Public Domain
While Steamboat Willie isn’t technically the first Mickey Mouse-starring cartoon, it was the first one to see a theatrical release. Walt Disney’s two previous Mickey efforts, The Gallopin’ Gaucho and Plane Crazy, weren’t unique enough to capture the interest of theater-owners or distributors. In the wake of The Jazz Singer‘s success, Disney decided to take the lessons learned and revolutionize the world of animated shorts. That said, Steamboat Willie is the first Hollywood animated short, and the first Mickey cartoon, to implement synchronized sound. Disney’s time-consuming, expensive gamble proved to be the right one. Steamboat Willie‘s captivating sound innovations helped launch Mickey Mouse to Hollywood stardom.
Mickey Mouse Copyright Expiration Has Internet Scrambling For Steamboat Willie Horror Movie
The beginning of 2024 has brought an early version of Mickey Mouse into the public domain, and the internet has many ideas for what can happen next.
In the decades since, Mickey Mouse has been the face of The Walt Disney Company. More than just a movie star, the character is synonymous with the brand. Align three circles in just the right way and folks the world over will recognize Mickey’s silhouette. Unable to stave off the fast-approaching public domain deadline, Disney has seen its pop-cultural icon enter the public domain — sort of. Steamboat Willie, and its particular version of Mickey Mouse, are no longer copyright-protected. Of course, the 95-year-long protections have expired for other 1928 films, including The Man Who Laughs, the titular character of which inspired DC Comics’ Joker.
Expiring Copyrights On Movies & Characters Can Help Democratize Filmmaking
Steamboat Willie‘s Mickey Mouse isn’t the only film that was let loose as of January 1, 2024. Movies by some of old Hollywood’s biggest names, Buster Keaton (Steamboat Bill, Jr., The Cameraman) and Charlie Chaplin (Circus), have joined Mickey’s ranks. The Passion of Joan of Arc, featuring Renée Maria Falconetti, is also in the public domain as of the 1st. While studios (and mega-corporations) might be fretting over losing sole custody of some classic movies and characters, it’s not all bad news. Expiring copyrights can theoretically help democratize filmmaking by granting creatives, theaters, and educational organizations access to a wealth of highly visible, wildly valuable cinematic history.
Killer Mickey Mouse Isn’t The Only Problem For The Steamboat Willie Horror Movie
The concept of Mickey Mouse becoming a killer is already a ridiculous premise, but it is not the only problem for the Steamboat Willie horror film.
In the age of streaming, this is particularly fortuitous. Not only is it easier than ever to access films from one’s own home, but the amount and quality of free-to-access content will only go up. In the literary world, classics’ entrance into the public domain hasn’t necessarily impacted readers’ acquisition of books like The Great Gatsby; Fitzgerald’s novel is still being read, downloaded, and purchased. The real impact has come in the form of how people can interact with the story. It can be turned into sequel fodder and excerpted more freely. While film is an entirely different medium, some of these positives translate.
New Public Domain Films Could Worsen Hollywood’s Biggest Trend
While making classic movies more readily available to film students, aspiring filmmakers, and general audiences alike is a wonderful plus, studios will no doubt have their own reactions to expiring copyrights. If a studio can’t be the sole owner of an influential movie, character, or franchise, the scramble to stake a claim and remake a classic will probably be in the front of execs’ minds. This might matter less in 2024: aside from Steamboat Willie‘s version of Mickey Mouse, none of the big-name, now-public domain films really feature franchise-spawning characters. In a few years, when Universal’s monster movies enter the debate, that will undoubtedly change.
Universal monster movies are a prime example of a looming issue. The horror-film franchise is responsible for giving audiences Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, and for spawning tried-and-true pop-cultural icons like Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, and others. Universal has already tried to reboot its monsters into a (failed) cinematic universe. While the goal was likely to compete with The Conjuringverse or even Blumhouse’s unique brand of horror, the studio might feel pressured to reinvent its classic movies and characters before their copyrights expire. Needless to say, the public domain situation may worsen Hollywood’s problem with remakes, reboots, and sequels.
How New Public Domain Movies Add To Franchise Fatigue & Sequel Bloat
Putting Disney’s unique case aside, very few of the newly minted public domain films have built-in, franchise-spawning power. Stars like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin were their own kind of cinematic universes, and their unique efforts simply can’t be replicated. But that doesn’t mean audiences won’t see someone try to take on Falconetti’s Joan of Arc or make a good version of Manhattan Cocktail. These possibilities existed before January 1, 2024, but the expired copyrights might make these sorts of prospects more enticing to directors, actors, and studios. For now, exacerbating franchise fatigue isn’t even the most pressing issue.
At the core of Hollywood’s problem with sequel bloat and turning everything into an interconnected cinematic universe is a lack of faith in original ideas. Movies like Rebel Moon are continuing a disappointing Hollywood trend wherein original, big-budget flicks flop. It’s difficult enough to get an original idea green-lit, and this culmination of events probably won’t help. Hollywood is a business — one that rather make a sure-bet with a built-in fan base than gamble on something that doesn’t have pre-existing IP tied to it. Needless to say, with more beloved classics slipping into the public domain, the dismissal of original ideas might intensify.
