On January 1, 2024, the earliest version of Mickey Mouse—the one seen in the 1928 short Steamboat Willie—officially entered the public domain. This means that Disney no longer has the exclusive copyright to that specific 1928 iteration of the character, allowing anyone to use it in their own creative works (as seen with the immediate announcement of horror films and games featuring the black-and-white mouse). However, this does not mean Disney has "lost" Mickey Mouse. Disney still holds the copyrights to all modern versions of Mickey (those with white gloves, red shorts, and pupils), which were created later and will remain under copyright for many more years. More importantly, Disney holds the trademark for Mickey Mouse as their corporate brand identifier. Unlike copyright, trademarks can be renewed indefinitely as long as the company continues to use the character. This means you cannot use Mickey Mouse in a way that suggests a product is an "official Disney product" or use him as a logo. For the average consumer, very little has changed, and Disney continues to aggressively protect its most valuable intellectual property through trademark law.