Disney knows once they lose the first battle the rest falls linearly over time. If copyright hadn't extended beyond 14 years, it would all be public now. As of 1976 copyright law, a fairly modern depiction of Mickey IMO would have been public in 2014 and the original in 2003 even with the extension that covered 75 years ownership by corporations.

Disney couldn't have any of that manifesting, so we're at 95 years and I won't be surprised if it's extended again (do children even recognize Mickey mouse these days?). The amount of influence wealth had over public policy to prop up its own interests is a continual problem we have in the US. Your average living breathing citizen in the US doesn't have nearly the amount of rights and freedoms that can be actualized as a select minority with deep pockets.

This clip is amazing. It was animated by one guy, Ub Iwerks, in 2 weeks. He would do almost a thousand drawings a day. Walt gets a ton of credit, but early Mickey (and Oswald) is because Ub was a phenomenal animator.