Steamboat Willie
by Lumic Story Studio
World: A 1928 cartoon riverboat
The 1928 black-and-white cartoon (public domain 2024). The earliest rubber-hose mouse character, pie-cut eyes, at the wheel of a riverboat — shown here to demonstrate how careful version-clearance matters.
Use The Steamboat Mouse (1928) in your project
License Steamboat Willie for your own app — like buying official merch.
Pick a tier and apply in minutes. You get an official, verifiable license to use these characters — free for personal use, a small fee for fan projects, or a revenue share once you sell.
Free fan projects using the 1928 public-domain black-and-white design only. Attribution required. Do NOT use any modernized or colorized version.
Small commercial projects using the 1928 public-domain black-and-white design. 8% revenue share. Modern versions remain protected.
Characters
The original 1928 black-and-white cartoon mouse at the steamboat wheel — pie-cut eyes, rubber-hose limbs, whistling. Only this earliest design is public domain.
Public domain — shown for demonstration only. The 1928 black-and-white version is free to use because its copyright has expired; modern versions are not. This is not a real licensable property on LicenseOS; it illustrates how careful version-clearance matters.
- Work:
- Walt Disney — "Steamboat Willie" (1928)
- Entered public domain:
- 2024
- Scope:
- The 1928 Steamboat Willie short — and the earliest black-and-white design of its mouse character — entered the US public domain on Jan 1, 2024. Later, modernized versions of the character remain under copyright, and the character also functions as a protected trademark.
The 1928 black-and-white cartoon mouse — public domain since 2024.
A 1928 cartoon riverboat, chugging down a hand-inked river.
Steamboat Willie (1928) is where it all started: a cheerful little black-and-white mouse whistling at the wheel of a riverboat, in bouncy rubber-hose animation with a synchronized soundtrack that changed cartoons forever. The design is the earliest one — pie-cut eyes, simple shorts, no gloves, no color.
On January 1, 2024 this specific 1928 version entered the US public domain — one of the most-watched copyright events in years. It's the single best teaching example for an IP-clearance product: the 1928 character is free, while later, modernized versions of the same character remain firmly protected. Knowing exactly which version you're using is the whole game.
Tone: Playful, vintage, slapstick-gentle. 1920s rubber-hose cartoon charm.
Cast
The original 1928 black-and-white cartoon mouse at the steamboat wheel — pie-cut eyes, rubber-hose limbs, whistling. Only this earliest design is public domain.
Theme track
Steamboat Rag
1920s ragtime
30-second theme · matches the 30s video generation
Licensable theme track — comes with the IP. An original instrumental that ships alongside the characters and key art, so a licensee can score their app or video on-brand.
On-brand
- Use the 1928 black-and-white Steamboat Willie design freely — that specific version's copyright has expired.
- Vintage rubber-hose, black-and-white, 1920s-cartoon contexts.
Bright lines
- Do NOT use modern, colorized, or later redesigned versions of the character — those remain protected by copyright and trademark.
- This is a demo entry, not a real listable property.
From this world
Available Licenses(2 public tiers)
Fan / Noncommercial
Free fan projects using the 1928 public-domain black-and-white design only. Attribution required. Do NOT use any modernized or colorized version.
Commercial use
Noncommercial use only
Pricing
Free
Permitted
- ✓Generate new content with the IP
- ✓Publicly display outputs
- ✓Create derivative works
- ✓Publish to an app store
- ✓Post on social media
Prohibited
- ✗Allow end-user-generated content
- ✗Download the approved assets
- ✗Make merchandise / print products
- ✗Train / fine-tune AI models on the IP
- ✗Content: Sexual
- ✗Content: Nudity
- ✗Content: Gore
- ✗Content: Hate
- ✗Content: Harassment
- ✗Content: Self Harm
- ✗Content: Illegal
- ✗Content: Brand Confusion
- ✗Content: Violence
- ✗Content: Political
- ✗Content: Religious
- ✗Content: Character Death
- ✗Content: Defamation
- ✗Content: Drugs
Limits
- 500 generations / month
- $0 monthly revenue cap
Terms
- Attribution required
- Review: AI REVIEW
- No fixed expiry
- Revocable by the rights holder
Free
Review mode: AI REVIEW
Creator
Small commercial projects using the 1928 public-domain black-and-white design. 8% revenue share. Modern versions remain protected.
Commercial use
Commercial use allowed up to $5,000/mo (8.0% revenue share)
Pricing
8.0% revenue share
Permitted
- ✓Generate new content with the IP
- ✓Publicly display outputs
- ✓Create derivative works
- ✓Allow end-user-generated content
- ✓Download the approved assets
- ✓Make merchandise / print products
- ✓Publish to an app store
- ✓Post on social media
Prohibited
- ✗Train / fine-tune AI models on the IP
- ✗Content: Sexual
- ✗Content: Nudity
- ✗Content: Gore
- ✗Content: Hate
- ✗Content: Harassment
- ✗Content: Self Harm
- ✗Content: Illegal
- ✗Content: Brand Confusion
- ✗Content: Defamation
Limits
- 5,000 generations / month
- 10,000 monthly active users
- $5,000 monthly revenue cap
Terms
- Attribution required
- Review: AI REVIEW
- No fixed expiry
- Revocable by the rights holder
8.0% revenue share
Review mode: AI REVIEW
AI Usage Signals
Machine-readable declarations derived from the published license policies above. These files tell AI crawlers, training pipelines, and compliance tools how this IP may be used.
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Verification docs