Disney Sends Cease And Desist Letter To Character.ai For Copyright Infringement As Studios Move To Protect IP; Deadline, September 30, 2025

Jill Goldsmith, Deadline; Disney Sends Cease And Desist Letter To Character.ai For Copyright Infringement As Studios Move To Protect IP

"Walt Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI, a “personalized superintelligence platform” that the media giant says is ripping off copyrighted characters without authorization.

The AI startup offers users the ability to create customizable, personalized AI companions that can be totally original but in some cases are inspired by existing characters, including, it seems, Disney icons from Spider-Man and Darth Vader to Moana and Elsa.

The letter is the latest legal salvo by Hollywood as studios begin to step up against AI. Disney has also sued AI company Midjourney for allegedly improper use and distribution of AI-generated characters from Disney films. Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures this month sued Chinese AI firm MiniMax for copyright infringement."

Morgan & Morgan takes Disney to court over rights to feature ‘Steamboat Willie’ in law firm ads; News6, September 17, 2025

 Phil Landeros , News6; Morgan & Morgan takes Disney to court over rights to feature ‘Steamboat Willie’ in law firm ads

"Morgan & Morgan, Florida’s largest law firm, has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to declare the law firm’s planned use of the iconic film in an ad is protected against trademark claims from Disney. Steamboat Willie entered the public domain on Jan. 1, 2024, when Disney’s copyright protection expired.

The proposed ad depicts Mickey Mouse in a boat collision with a car, after which the driver seeks legal representation from Morgan & Morgan. According to the filing, before moving forward with the advertisement, the law firm sought assurance from Disney that the commercial wouldn’t trigger legal action. The filing said Disney would not comply."

97 years ago today, Disney copyrighted the Mickey Mouse character; Trib Live, August 12, 2025

PATRICK VARINE , Trib Live; 97 years ago today, Disney copyrighted the Mickey Mouse character

"On Aug. 12, 1928, an ambitious young man named Walt Disney filed a copyright application for Mickey Mouse, a new animated character he’d created alongside animator Ub Iwerks.

That turned out to be a successful business move for Disney, who would go on to build his character into an international entertainment empire."

YouTube Pirates Are Cashing In on Hollywood’s Summer Blockbusters; The New York Times, July 5, 2025

 Nico Grant and Tripp Mickle, The New York Times; YouTube Pirates Are Cashing In on Hollywood’s Summer Blockbusters

"But the company also had cause to be concerned. In the days after the Disney film’s opening, a pirated version of “Lilo & Stitch” proved to be a hit on YouTube, where more than 200,000 people viewed it, potentially costing Disney millions of dollars in additional sales, according to new research from Adalytics, a firm that analyzes advertising campaigns for brands.

The findings of the research shed new light on the copyright issues that once threatened to upend YouTube’s business. They also show how advertisers have unwittingly supported illicit content on YouTube, and they provide rare data about piracy on the platform."

How Disney’s AI lawsuit could shift the future of entertainment; The Washington Post, June 11, 2025

 

Tatum Hunter

 and 

Will Oremus

, The Washington Post ; How Disney’s AI lawsuit could shift the future of entertainment

"The battle over the future of AI-generated content escalated on Wednesday as two Hollywood titans sued a fast-growing AI start-up for copyright infringement.

Disney and Universal, whose entertainment empires include Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and Despicable Me, sued Midjourney, claiming it wrongfully trained its image-generating AI models on the studios’ intellectual property.

They are the first major Hollywood studios to file copyright infringement lawsuits, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing fight by artists, newspapers and content makers to stop AI firms from using their work as training data — or at least make them pay for it."

In first-of-its-kind lawsuit, Hollywood giants sue AI firm for copyright infringement; NPR, June 12, 2025

 Chloe Veltman, NPR; In first-of-its-kind lawsuit, Hollywood giants sue AI firm for copyright infringement

"n a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, entertainment companies Disney and Universal are suing AI firm Midjourney for copyright infringement.

The 110-page lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a U.S. district court in Los Angeles, includes detailed appendices illustrating the plaintiffs' claims with visual examples and alleges that Midjourney stole "countless" copyrighted works to train its AI engine in the creation of AI-generated images."

Disney, Universal File First Major Studio Lawsuit Against AI Company, Sue Midjourney for Copyright Infringement: ‘This Is Theft’; Variety, June 11, 2025

 Todd Spangler, Variety; Disney, Universal File First Major Studio Lawsuit Against AI Company, Sue Midjourney for Copyright Infringement: ‘This Is Theft’

"Disney and NBCU filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Midjourney, a generative AI start-up, alleging copyright infringement. The companies alleged that Midjourney’s own website “displays hundreds, if not thousands, of images generated by its Image Service at the request of its subscribers that infringe Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Works.”

A copy of the lawsuit is at this link...

Disney and NBCU’s lawsuit includes images alleged to be examples of instances of Midjourney’s infringement. Those include an image of Marvel’s Deadpool and Wolverine (pictured above), Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Hulk and more; Star Wars’ Darth Vader, Yoda, R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca; Disney’s Princess Elsa and Olaf from “Frozen”; characters from “The Simpsons”; Pixar’s Buzz Lightyear from “Toy Story” and Lightning McQueen from “Cars”; DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon”; and Universal‘s “Shrek” and the yellow Minions from the “Despicable Me” film franchise."

US Trademark Office cancels Marvel, DC's 'Super Hero' marks; Reuters, September 26, 2024

Blake Brittain , Reuters; US Trademark Office cancels Marvel, DC's 'Super Hero' marks

"A U.S. Trademark Office tribunal has canceled a set of "Super Hero" trademarks jointly owned by comic giants Marvel and DC at the request of a London-based comic book artist, according to a Thursday order.

The USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled for S.J. Richold's Superbabies Ltd after Disney's Marvel and Warner Bros' DC did not file an answer to Superbabies' request to invalidate the marks.

Spokespeople and attorneys for Marvel and DC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Superbabies attorney Adam Adler of Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg said in a statement that the ruling was "not just a win for our client but a victory for creativity and innovation."

"By establishing SUPER HEROES' place in the public domain, we safeguard it as a symbol of heroism available to all storytellers," Adler said."

Paraguay Loves Mickey, Its Cartoon Mouse. Disney Doesn’t.; The New York Times, September 14, 2024

Laurence Blair,

Photographs by María Magdalena Arréllaga

, The New York Times; Paraguay Loves Mickey, Its Cartoon Mouse. Disney Doesn’t.

"Paraguayans are notoriously creative — some would say light-fingered — when it comes to intellectual property.

Factories churn out knockoff Nike, Lacoste, and Adidas clothing.Paraguay’s educational authorities warned last year that Harvard University Paraguay — in Ciudad del Este, the country’s second-largest city and a counterfeiting hot spot — was awarding bogus medical degrees. (The school has no connection to the more famous Harvard.)

Paraguay ranks 86th out of 125 countries in an index compiled by the Property Rights Alliance, a research institute based in Washington, scoring 1.7 out of 10 for copyright protection."

How A Mickey Mouse Horror Movie Is Releasing Only 2 Months After Disney Lost The Copyright; Screen Rant, January 31, 2024

 EIDHNE GALLAGHER, Screen Rant; How A Mickey Mouse Horror Movie Is Releasing Only 2 Months After Disney Lost The Copyright

"Mickey Mouse is one of several popular characters who have entered the public domain in the 2020s. However, this upcoming horror movie is solely focusing on the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse. While the copyright claim on Steamboat Willie has expired, Disney has not lost all their rights to their mascot. Every Mickey Mouse movie and character evolution that took place after Steamboat Willie remains protected under copyright law, and Disney will continue to use the character as a trademarked mascot."

Mickey Mouse is finally in the public domain. Here’s what that means.; The Washington Post, January 1, 2024

 Michael Cavna, The Washington Post; Mickey Mouse is finally in the public domain. Here’s what that means.

"Jennifer Jenkins, a law professor and director of Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, says that from a copyright angle — trademark considerations are a different matter — “You can use Mickey and Minnie 1.0 from ‘Steamboat Willie’ and ‘Plane Crazy,’ but you cannot use the aggregated later Mickey that, for example, appears in one of my favorite films, ‘Fantasia.’ You cannot use the copyrightable aspect of the character from later, still-in-copyright works.”"

Disney loses famous Mickey Mouse copyright in 2024, along with many others; CBS News, December 30, 2023

CBS News ; Disney loses famous Mickey Mouse copyright in 2024, along with many others

"Copyright protections on many well-known books, films and musical compositions are set to expire in 2024. Disney's Mickey Mouse is getting a lot of attention as one famous iteration of the classic mouse is set to enter the public domain. CBS News' Jo Ling Kent has the story."

Column: Mickey Mouse and ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ enter the public domain on Jan. 1, a reminder of our crazy copyright laws; Los Angeles Times, December 26, 2023

MICHAEL HILTZIK, Los Angeles Times ; Column: Mickey Mouse and ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ enter the public domain on Jan. 1, a reminder of our crazy copyright laws

"Once a work enters the public domain, Jenkins says, “community theaters can screen the films. Youth orchestras can perform the music publicly, without paying licensing fees. Online repositories such as the Internet Archive, HathiTrust, Google Books, and the New York Public Library can make works fully available online. This helps enable access to cultural materials that might otherwise be lost to history. ... Anyone can rescue them from obscurity and make them available, where we can all discover, enjoy, and breathe new life into them.”

In some cases, extended copyright seems to work against the public interest. Consider the stringent control exercised by the estate of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — mostly his children — over his speeches and writings such as the “I Have a Dream” speech he delivered in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963...

The irony of the term extension is that Disney, which pushed so hard to keep its own creations out of the public domain, is perhaps our most assiduous exploiter of, yes, the public domain.

The core material of some of its most successful and profitable movies comes from Hans Christian Andersen, Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll and Charles Perrault — often freely reimagined and rewritten by Disney artists and writers. 

Disney’s “Fantasia” mined musical history for compositions by Bach and Beethoven, but if the copyright terms Disney pushed for in 1998 were in place when the film was made in 1940, the compositions used in the film by Stravinsky, Ponchielli, Dukas, Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky would still be under copyright protection. If Disney had to pay licensing fees to those creators, the film probably could not have been made."

Mickey Mouse, Long a Symbol in Copyright Wars, to Enter Public Domain: ‘It’s Finally Happening’; Variety, December 22, 2023

 Gene Maddaus, Variety; Mickey Mouse, Long a Symbol in Copyright Wars, to Enter Public Domain: ‘It’s Finally Happening’

"Every Jan. 1, Jenkins celebrates Public Domain Day, publishing a long list of works that are now free for artists to remix and reimagine. This year’s list includes Tigger, who, like Mickey Mouse, made his first appearance in 1928. Other 1928 works include “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” “All Quiet on the Western Front” and Buster Keaton’s “The Cameraman.” 

The celebrations are relatively recent. After Congress extended copyright terms in 1998, 20 years went by when nothing entered the public domain. Works began to lose copyright protection again in 2019, and since then, it’s been open season on “The Great Gatsby,” “Rhapsody in Blue” and Winnie the Pooh...

Lessig fought the extension all the way to the Supreme Court. He argued that Congress might keep granting extensions, thwarting the constitutional mandate that copyrights be “for limited times.” He lost, 7-2, but the debate helped advance the movement for Creative Commons and an appreciation for the benefits of “remix culture.”

“That movement awoke people to the essential need for balance in this,” Lessig said. “At the beginning of this fight, it was a simple battle between the pirates and the property owners. And by the end of that period, people recognized that there’s a much wider range of interests that were involved here, like education and access to knowledge.”...

He continues to support reforms that would free up a vast body of cultural output that remains inaccessible because it lacks commercial value and its ownership cannot be determined."

Original Mickey And Minnie Mouse Will Enter Public Domain Next Week—Here’s What It Means For Creators; Forbes, December 22, 2023

 Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes; Original Mickey And Minnie Mouse Will Enter Public Domain Next Week—Here’s What It Means For Creators

"Two of the most sought-after characters in film and television are set to enter the public domain on Jan. 1, which will allow creators to use the original versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse to create new projects of any kind, likely adding to a lineup of films and books like “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” based on other popular characters with expired copyrights."

Disney is about to lose its decades-long battle to keep Mickey Mouse out of the public domain; Business Insider, December 14, 2023

Grace Eliza Goodwin, Business Insider; Disney is about to lose its decades-long battle to keep Mickey Mouse out of the public domain

"That 1998 law is what all copyrights operate under today. But there hasn't been another extension to the law, so starting January 1, anyone can use Steamboat Willie.

But even though the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse is entering the public domain, Disney doesn't need to be too worried about imposter Mickeys popping up around the world. 

Every time the company creates an altered version of the character, it gets copyrighted, and all modern depictions of the friendly mouse are protected, according to LUC's blog. Disney also owns trademarks on the modern incarnation of Mickey Mouse, giving the brand's mascot even more protection."

Marvel, artist's estate ask for pre-trial wins in superhero copyright fight; Reuters, May 22, 2023

 Blake Brittain, Reuters; Marvel, artist's estate ask for pre-trial wins in superhero copyright fight

"Walt Disney Co’s Marvel and the estate of artist Steve Ditko both asked a Manhattan federal judge on Friday to hand them a win without waiting for trial in their copyright dispute over rights to superheroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange."

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey Is Building to an Anti-Disney Horror Universe; CBR, February 9, 2023

ANDREAS NEUENKIRCHEN, CBR ; Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey Is Building to an Anti-Disney Horror Universe

Disney characters beware -- Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey intends to kick off a shared universe of public domain properties in a horror setting.

"Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey portrays the title character and his companion Piglet as bloodthirsty, feral slashers after having been abandoned by their friend Christopher Robin. This new interpretation became a possibility when the first Winnie-the-Pooh book by A. A. Milne went into the public domain in January 2022 (Disney still holds the rights to its specific depictions of the characters)."

Mickey Mouse's Impending Copyright Expiration Explained; Screen Rant, January 8, 2023

CLOTILDE CHINNICI, Screen Rant; Mickey Mouse's Impending Copyright Expiration Explained

"It seems likely that Disney will maintain its copyright over Mickey Mouse for the foreseeable future. In particular, Mickey Mouse will remain under Disney's property because it is a registered trademark. In fact, this would let Disney keep ownership of Mickey Mouse as its trademark potentially forever, thus allowing Mickey Mouse to feature in future and upcoming Disney films. Unlike copyright, which expires after a certain amount of years, trademark protection can endure in perpetuity, as long as Disney can claim that the character of Mickey Mouse is associated with the Walt Disney company itself.

Ultimately, Mickey Mouse will still to be a legally protected Disney product. The strong association between Disney and Mickey Mouse, one that the company itself has invested in, represents a strong protection for Disney as the trademark will not expire any time soon, giving Disney control over Mickey Mouse. Despite the copyright law and Steamboat Willie's copyright expiration, Disney's approval is still required for others to use Mickey Mouse material, even the one that will eventually become public domain, in anything outside of fair use, thanks to the mouse's trademark protection."

The Copyright Death (and Rebirth) of Mickey Mouse; Puck, January 2, 2023

Eriq Gardner, Puck; The Copyright Death (and Rebirth) of Mickey Mouse

"Another wrinkle is that the passing of copyrights into the public domain doesn’t necessarily mean there are fewer copyrighted works. On the contrary, it usually leads to more copyrights for each new remake. Consider the Sherlock Holmes canon: Warner Bros. has copyrights to its Robert Downey Jr. movies; the BBC has copyrights for its Sherlock episodes; CBS has them for Elementary, and so on. Netflix created an entirely new Sherlock-adjacent character, and now enjoys copyrights for its Enola Holmes films. Of course, only those elements that are truly original are eligible for new protections, which is why the BBC considered suing CBS over its own contemporary spin on the detective series (before thinking better of it).

After all, Hollywood studios are sued all the time for allegedly ripping off others. Fortunately for these studios, copyright lawsuits almost always fail because the law only protects original expression, not generic, time-worn genre tropes. Studios tend to be well represented and are usually adept at giving judges sound arguments for why their works don’t infringe. Nevertheless, with more people playing in the same sandboxes comes the increasing prospect of studios being sued for using famous characters in a particular way. So I’ll end with a prediction: There will come a time when Disney gets sued for infringing some new version of Mickey Mouse—and the studio defends itself by pointing to what’s in the public domain."