At the beginning of 2024, Mickey Mouse became public domain — or rather, one version of Mickey Mouse did.
The classic, black-and-white Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse can now be used by ANYONE without permission from Disney, and it didn’t take long for horror movies, video games, and more to start using that version of Mickey for their own artistic licenses. However, the funniest use of public domain Mickey so far might be coming from John Oliver, the host of Last Week Tonight.Â