John Oliver Is Not Using Mickey Mouse To Promote His Show But He Is Using Steamboat Mickey

By Andrew Sanford | TV | February 13, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | TV | February 13, 2024 |

Several years ago, I was stuck in my office listening to several employees talk. I had foolishly climbed the ranks of the bar company I worked at to be their HR Manager. It was a thankless, dreadful job that I was not mean enough for. Case in point: people I barely liked when I was their coworker would come into my office and jaw at me. Sometimes, it was fine. Mostly, it was annoying.

One time in particular has stayed in my brain all these years later. A gentleman who fancied himself a writer went on a little tirade about how, in the coming decade, Superman would be in the public domain. He looked me dead in the eyes with a sick, grinning confidence reserved for straight white men and said, “Then I’ll finally get my hands on him.” Setting aside the fact that I had read this person’s work and found it to be derivative and heavily misogynistic, I was more focused on his ability to do so without getting sued.

“I mean, they’ll probably find a way to keep the rights,” I said. “No,” he insisted. “They have to be public domain.” He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t right either. While the Big Blue Boy Scout has yet to enter the public domain, other characters have. Winnie The Pooh is a prime example. The bear from the Hundred Acre Woods is already being used to do all sorts of gnarly things. However, it is not the bear Disney has used in their adaptations. He is the OG, if you will. So, Disney can still make money off of their version, but others can use OG Pooh.

If this all sounds confusing, that’s fair! John Oliver (and his lawyers) are certainly banking on that confusion. One of the newest characters to enter the public domain is Steamboat Mickey. Not Mickey Mouse! That cannot be stressed enough. John Oliver is not parading around a giant foam mascot of Mickey Mouse. That would be illegal and open him up to lawsuits. Steamboat Mickey is up for grabs and can be made to give the middle finger to John’s audience whenever he likes.

Watching John Oliver walk this legal tightrope is almost as fun as the gag itself. He is filled to the brim with glee. The costume cracks him up for the entire time it’s out there. His face during the interview is some version of, “Can you believe we’re doing this?!”

In regards to Superman, I don’t think the angry little writer I used to work with will get a crack at him (for a multitude of reasons). Warner Brothers/DC and their ilk will find a way to protect their copyrights for as long as they can. Still, we’ll likely be greeted with a deluge of knockoff Superman projects that appear as though they sprouted from the mind of a bratty little misogynist, with the occasionally bright spot like Oliver.