Who Owns Mickey Mouse? Is It You?

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Los Angeles Times

So who really owns the rights to Mickey Mouse? Is it the Walt Disney Company? Is it UB Iwerks? Is it Cinephone? Is it everyone in the world?

It appears the the Los Angeles Times has stumbled upon an interesting legal question, who really owns the character, or at least early versions of the world-famous cartoon icon, Mickey Mouse? An eye-opening, front page article by Joseph Menn, discusses the little known fact, that indeed the Walt Disney company may have committed a copyright snafu, that would put the earliest version of Mickey in the public domain.

Don't start making plans to sell Mickey Mouse t-shirts and comic books just yet, however. Even though the Iconic Mouse may indeed reside in the public domain, Disney has enough lawyers and resources to make you go broke long before you could prove it.

Apparently when Disney created the title boards for their early cartoons they listed themselves, artist UB Iwerks, and the sound company Cinephone, above the copyright date (see above photo). By doing so they mistakenly gave the rights to the cartoons, and the characters featured in them, to all three of the listed parties. According to legal president that would put the copyright in dispute, and essentially void it.

Find Out More In The Los Angeles Times Article By Joseph Menn