Jennifer Jenkins

If you're the creative type and you're struggling to come up with your next idea, do not fear: some big works, including the original version of Mickey Mouse, entered the public domain Monday in the United States.

And if, on the other hand, you prefer your Disney characters to be cute, cuddly and never-changing, well, … you might want to stop reading.

Almost a century after his big-screen debut, Mickey Mouse enters the public domain tomorrow, opening the floodgates to potential remakes, spin-offs, adaptations... and legal battles with Disney.

M-I-C-K-E-Y will soon belong to you and me.

With several asterisks, qualification and caveats, Mickey Mouse in his earliest form will be the leader of the band of characters, films and books that will become public domain as the year turns to 2024.

Sherlock Holmes is finally free to the American public in 2023.

The long-running contested copyright dispute over Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales of a whipsmart detective, which has even ensnared Enola Holmes, will finally come to an end as the 1927 copyrights expiring Jan. 1 include Conan Doyle's last Sherlock Holmes work.