Vynce Digital · free check

Is it really yours?

In 1928 Walt Disney found out his star character belonged to his distributor. In 2006 Disney got it back, as part of letting a sportscaster go. Check whose name the things your business runs on are in.

1. Look up your domain

The public registration record (RDAP): who it's registered through, when it expires, whether it's locked, where its DNS lives.

Honest limit: most domains hide the owner behind a privacy service, so no public lookup can prove a domain is in your name. The proof is the registrar account itself: who logs in, and whose email gets the renewal notices.

2. The 12 things that must be in your name

Tick each one only after you've logged in and seen your business (or you) as the owner. It stays on this device.

0of 12 confirmed yours

    Why a rabbit? The story, with receipts

    1927Walt Disney's new star is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: 26 cartoons, distributed by Universal. (Disney, 9 Feb 2006)
    1928On a trip to New York to renew the deal, Disney says Walt "discovered a clause in his contract that gave Universal ownership" of the character. His distributor, Charles Mintz, took the rabbit and half of Walt's animators. (Disney; Walt Disney Family Museum)
    1928Disney's own telling: on the train home Mickey Mouse was born, a character Walt "would own entirely". (AP calls the train story a legend.)
    2006Al Michaels, Monday Night Football's voice for 20 years, asks to leave ABC/ESPN to call NBC's Sunday night games. Disney releases him; as part of the same agreement NBC Universal transfers Oswald and the 26 Disney-made cartoons, and ESPN gets Ryder Cup and Olympic highlight rights. AP: he "was traded from ABC to NBC for a cartoon bunny, four rounds of golf and Olympic highlights." Michaels: "I'm going to be a trivia answer someday." (AP via ESPN; AP via Spokesman-Review)
    2025Disney's annual report: "The success of our businesses is highly dependent on the existence and maintenance of intellectual property rights in the entertainment products and services we create." (Form 10-K, p.23)