Chief Legal Officer of Atlas: The Mickey Mouse trademark and brand are still private property, and the copyright of Steamboat Willie is still restricted

On January 2, NFTs based on the image of Mickey Mouse in the 1928 Steamboat Willie short film entered the popular list in OpenSea, with one group’s transaction volume reaching 521 ETH in 24 hours. Atlas Chief Legal Officer Oscar Franklin Tan said that while people can use the 1928 version of Disney characters, there are still some legal restrictions on their use. Specifically, only the specific 1928 version of Mickey Mouse, which is black and white, with a long nose and no gloves, is in the public domain under U.S. law, while trademarks and brands remain private. Tan suggested that anyone using the image in an NFT must make it clear that they are not affiliated with Disney to prevent infringement. He also pointed out that the public domain status of the 1928 version of Mickey Mouse is also different in countries with different legal countdowns.