When Is da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” like Mickey Mouse?

Residing in Italy’s Gallerie dell Accademia, Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man is 500 years old. However, the questions about its ownership are rather recent.

Public Domain Art

Vitruvian Man

Owned by everyone (and no one), the Vitruvian Man is in the public domain. And yet, saying it had some ownership rights, the museum in Venice where it resides sued the puzzle manufacturer that used the image. The Gallerie dell Accademia took puzzle maker Ravensburger to court because Italy’s Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code permits public institutions to prohibit or be paid for the commercial use of art. After the Court agreed with the Museum, Ravensburger said the Code was valid only in Italy but not beyond. Now though, a German Court agreed with the puzzle maker.

At this point, we are left with ownership questions. We can ask who owns the property rights to a work of art with no copyright. Our answer determines if Ravensburger has to pay the penalty (1500 euros for each day it postpones payment) ordered by the Italian court.

This is the disputed image:

Mickey Mouse

We also can ask who has the right to reproduce Mickey Mouse.

A mural outside a Florida daycare center used to have life size pictures of Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, and Minnie Mouse. But then the Disney Company objected. Because the images were owned by Disney, the Daycare Center could not use them without permission. However, our story has two happy endings. At first, Universal Studios replaced them with Scooby Doo, the Flintstones, and Yogi Bear.

But also, some Mickey Mouse images entered the public domain on January 1, 2024. As a result, the minor changes to the 1928 Mickey made newer images (in our featured image) unprotected:

Our Bottom Line: Intellectual Property

While a copyright gives us ownership, it has its limits. Yes, in the United States, we have a very young Mickey Mouse (from 1928) in the public domain because the copyright for paintings and books from 1924 to 1978 lasts for 95 years. In most of Europe, South America, and Canada, and now in the U.S., the copyright protection expires 70 years after the death of the creator.

Shaped like a mouse, this graphic from the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain told us what we can do with Mickey:

So, while market economies depend on secure property rights, there are limits to what we can own and how long. Always we have had to balance inspiring innovation through individual intellectual property ownership and the public’s right to share a good idea. Always we have tradeoffs.

My sources and more: Yesterday, I learned about the “Vitruvian Man” dispute. From there it was easy to find out much more at artnet about public domain art, here and here. and also from the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain. And then, of course, it returned me to one of my favorite books, Mine! How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives.