Morgan and Morgan’s Disney Lawsuit: Steamboat Willie Ad Dropped

The Morgan and Morgan Disney lawsuit was a preemptive federal case the personal injury firm filed in September 2025, asking a court to declare that its Steamboat Willie–themed television commercial did not infringe Disney’s intellectual property. Morgan & Morgan voluntarily dismissed the suit less than two months later without any ruling on the merits, then aired the ad during a nationally televised college football game that December.¹²

The Commercial at the Center of It

The dispute revolved around a 37-second, black-and-white spot styled after the 1928 animated short Steamboat Willie. In it, a Mickey Mouse character crashes a steamboat into a Minnie Mouse character’s car; Minnie then pulls out a cell phone to call an attorney at Morgan & Morgan. The commercial carried a disclaimer stating it was not approved, authorized, or endorsed by Disney.³⁴

Why the Firm Sued Before Disney Did

In July 2025, before running the ad nationally, Morgan & Morgan partner Damien Prosser wrote to Disney. The letter argued that because the copyright on Steamboat Willie expired on January 1, 2024, the short was in the public domain and the firm’s use of its visual elements was lawful.³

Disney’s Chief Assistant Counsel, Gloria Shaw, sent back a non-answer: “Disney’s policy is typically not to provide legal advice to third parties. Without waiver of any of its rights, Disney will not provide such advice in response to your letter.” Disney did not grant permission. It also did not send a cease-and-desist letter or threaten to sue.³

Morgan & Morgan said that ambiguity was itself the problem. The firm argued that Disney’s refusal to say yes or no, together with the company’s known history of protecting its intellectual property, created a credible threat of litigation that was chilling the firm’s lawful use of public-domain material.³

On September 17, 2025, Morgan Global, PLLC filed Morgan Global, PLLC v. Disney Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 6:25-cv-01795, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The complaint sought a declaratory judgment that the commercial did not infringe Disney’s intellectual property or trademark rights. According to a legal analysis, the pleading invoked the Lanham Act and raised claims tied to trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, and trademark dilution, all seeking declarations of non-infringement rather than damages.¹⁵

How the Case Ended

Disney never responded. The company filed no answer, no counterclaim, and no motion. It also declined to comment publicly on the suit.³

On November 12, 2025, Morgan & Morgan filed a notice of voluntary dismissal. The court closed the case on November 18, 2025. The dismissal was without prejudice, meaning the firm could refile the same claims later. No settlement was publicly reported, and the firm did not clearly explain why it dropped the case.¹⁶

The ad survived the litigation. On December 6, 2025, the Steamboat Willie commercial aired during a nationally televised college football game between Indiana University and Ohio State University. Firm founder John Morgan publicly declared victory, saying the ad was “running.” The firm did not disclose its full air schedule.²

One analysis of Disney’s approach concluded that its silence produced a practical win: by never engaging, the company avoided any “definitive judicial decision” on the reach of its trademark claims over the Steamboat Willie characters, while the uncertainty was enough to delay the ad.⁶

The Legal Question the Case Would Have Tested

The dispute sat on a well-known fault line between copyright and trademark. The copyright side is settled: the U.S. copyright on the 1928 Steamboat Willie film expired on January 1, 2024, placing the short and the specific 1928 version of Mickey Mouse in the public domain. Anyone can now screen, share, adapt, or remix that early Mickey, who has solid black eyes, long skinny limbs, and no gloves or speech. Disney retains copyright over all later versions of the character.⁷⁸

Trademark is the harder part. Trademarks do not expire on a set schedule; they last as long as they are used in commerce and renewed. Disney holds dozens of registrations covering “Mickey Mouse” and various depictions of the character, including designs that resemble the 1928 version. Those marks are meant to prevent consumer confusion about affiliation or endorsement.⁷

Courts have said trademark law cannot be used to extend an expired copyright. The Supreme Court warned in Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. against creating a “mutant copyright law” through trademark claims, and the Ninth Circuit reached a similar result in Comedy III v. New Line. Legal commentators have advised creators using the public-domain Mickey to include disclaimers and to avoid using the character as a brand logo, which is the approach Morgan & Morgan took.⁷⁹

Because the case ended in voluntary dismissal, it produced no ruling. Where the line falls between lawful use of the public-domain Steamboat Willie character and trademark infringement remains unsettled.

Why This Firm and Why Disney

The clash was not accidental. John Morgan has traced his legal career to a family conflict with Disney nearly fifty years earlier. In 1976, his younger brother Tim was paralyzed while performing a rescue dive as a lifeguard at Walt Disney World and became a quadriplegic. According to John Morgan, the family could not sue Disney because the Reedy Creek Improvement District, then Disney’s employer of record, shielded the company with workers’ compensation immunity.¹⁰¹¹

Morgan has said Disney “fought him like he was a combatant enemy” over benefits, at one point proposing to bring Tim back to work on an overnight shift, which Morgan characterized as an attempt to avoid paying benefits. The experience, he has said, pushed him at 19 to become a personal injury lawyer: “I said then and there that my life’s work was going to be representing people who were powerless, hopeless, and helpless against big corporations like Walt Disney World.” Tim remains paralyzed from the chest down.¹¹¹⁰

1
CourtListener. Morgan Global, PLLC v. Disney Enterprises, Inc.
2
Sun Sentinel. John Morgan Declares Victory in Steamboat Willie Ad Dispute With Disney
3
Florida Politics. Morgan & Morgan Sues Disney Over Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse Ad
4
Orlando Sentinel. Morgan & Morgan Drops Steamboat Willie Lawsuit Against Disney
5
Cullen LLC. Steamboat Willie in the Public Domain: Testing the Boundaries of Copyright and Trademark Law
6
Fox 35 Orlando. Law Firm Morgan & Morgan Drops Steamboat Willie Lawsuit Against Disney
7
Duke University Center for the Study of the Public Domain. Mickey, Disney, and the Public Domain
8
Johns Hopkins University Hub. Mickey Public Domain Copyright Holders
9
Northeastern University News. Mickey Mouse Public Domain Copyright Trademark
10
Orlando Magazine. 50 Most Powerful People: John Morgan
11
Click Orlando. How a Legal Battle With Disney Helped Create One of Orlando’s Most Powerful Attorneys