With music, there are different time periods for the song and the performance, so for example, there are a few of Ella Fitzgerald songs that became public domai

With music, there are different time periods for the song and the performance, so for example, there are a few of Ella Fitzgerald songs that became public domain last year. However, the actual recordings are not necessarily public domain yet (some are, some aren't public domain simultaneously). The music is however, so you can do your own version of them if you want. My specific example might have flaws since I only chose Ella because it's the first example I remember from last year's public domain releases, but that was the gist of what I was reading about the issues with music ownership specifically. I suspect something similar will happen when it comes to characters like Mickey Mouse. And of course, in 2024 you would theoretically only have access to the first version of Mickey, which looks totally different than later iterations.