This feels significant: Disney has officially withdrawn its copyright claims against third parties Steamboat Willie Videos on YouTube.
Thursday, Mashable reports YouTuber and voice actor Brock Baker uploaded a video to his channel, which has more than 1 million subscribers, and the video was almost immediately hit with a copyright claim from Disney.
YouTube sent a message to Brock Baker regarding Disney’s copyright claim for his upload of “Steamboat Willie.”
Photo credit: Brock Baker
Baker’s film features the entire 1928 Disney animated short Steamboat Willie. He remixed the film starring Mickey Mouse and put his own comedic soundtrack into the nearly 8-minute animated feature, titled “Steamboat Willie (voiced by Bullock)” issued.
After being charged, Baker’s uploads were demonetized, meaning the YouTuber couldn’t make money from them. The statement also blocks the ability to embed the film on third-party websites. Additionally, YouTube videos have limited visibility, including being completely blocked in some countries.
How people are using Mickey Mouse in a post-copyright era
Baker filed the objection shortly after receiving the copyright claim.His reasons seemed persuasive because Steamboat Willie Entered the public domain on January 1, 2024, allowing a wide range of creative uses – including monetization – of the film and its content without Disney’s permission.
He succeeded.
“Disney published their statement and it can now be embedded and shared globally,” Baker told Mashable on Friday, attaching a screenshot of the email alert he received from YouTube letting him know the copyright statement had been posted. .
“Good news! After reviewing your dispute, Disney has decided to drop its copyright claim on your YouTube video,” the YouTube email read.
Since Disney has withdrawn this claim, Baker’s film is now monetizable, embeddable, and viewable globally.
“Honestly, I’m glad it took 24 hours instead of 30 days, but it’s still frustrating,” Baker told us, referring to YouTube’s policy that gave Disney a full month to respond to his copyright claims. controversy. “I wish I knew what was going on behind the scenes.”
There’s a lot of speculation on the internet about what exactly could be done Steamboat Willie This won’t spark ire or potential lawsuits from Disney, which still owns the trademark (unlike the copyright) to use the iconic Mickey Mouse character in certain circumstances.according to tech dirtother Steamboat Willie According to reports, the film has also received a copyright claim in the past few days.
YouTube has historically maintained that it does not mediate copyright claims. Copyright owners can file claims through their Content ID tool, and uploaders can dispute these claims if they believe they are incorrect. According to YouTube, the responsibility for publishing claims for content that has entered the public domain lies with the Content ID user, in this case Disney.
Based on how quickly Baker’s videos were tagged, it’s likely that Disney’s copyright claims on the videos he uploaded were automated and came from YouTube’s Content ID database. Mashable has reached out to Disney for more information and we will update this article if we hear back.
However, the way this happens might be really helpful to those looking to create new creative works based on new public domain titles Steamboat Willie.Disney took what may be its first official public action to acknowledge this by issuing a YouTube copyright claim for Baker’s video. Steamboat Willie Along with this version of Mickey Mouse is indeed public domain.
In other words, content like Baker’s is allowed with or without Disney’s involvement.
