Industry news for the professional cartoonist
The big news in Public Domain 2024 is selected Mickey Mouse copyrights, whose animated shorts Steamboat Willie and The Gallopin’ Gaucho were released in 1928, will finally succumb to The Mickey Mouse Protection Act. The Associated Press’ Andrew Dalton: With several asterisks, qualification and caveats, Mickey Mouse in his earliest form will be the leader…
Creative works from 1927 entered into public domain status on January 1, 2023. As we did last year we turn to Duke Law for the big hits: On January 1, 2023, copyrighted works from 1927 will enter the US public domain.?1? They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. These include…
Speaking of The Sun Also Rises… From the Duke University law site: On January 1, 2022, copyrighted works from 1926 will enter the US public domain, where they will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. The line-up this year is stunning. It includes books such as A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, Felix…
As of January 1, 2021 most everything from 1925 entered public domain status. While that Duke University links focuses on some lesser works, we will turn our attention to more important literature that is now available after the Walt Disney Extension. Among the more well-known comics that started in 1925, and whose first year is…
Print and film classics from 1924 become public domain on January 1, 2020. Some famous comic strips which were created in 1924 finally have their debut year now p.d. Boots and Her Buddies first appeared on February 18, 1924 from the NEA Service. So there is most of the year available there. Here is a…
Joel Franusic, a product marketing marketer and self-described “hacker” has figured out how to scrape internet versions of old newspapers to post old “Krazy Kat” comics. To date, he’s posted 1916 through 1922. “Why?” you ask. Here’s Joel: After becoming a little obsessed with Krazy Kat, I was very disappointed to see many of the…
After 20 years in suspended animation copyrights have expired on works created in 1923. Congress, bowing to pressure from a few corporations, extended U. S. copyright rights from 75 years to 95 years in 1998. Some details of the results can be read here and here and here. Some creations never had their copyrights renewed…
At the first of this year, the Popeye character entered into the public domain in Europe. In the US, the copyright is still in play until 2024 because US law protects works for 95 years after the death of the creator instead of the 70 years that Europe observes. That said, King Features still owns…
Most staff editorial cartoonists churn out several editorial cartoons a week. Depending on the paper, they might have other tasks – draw/judge a caption contest, produce an animation, community speaking engagements, graphic journalism, etc. It’s always interesting to see the unique ways the paper uses the cartoonist outside of the normal 5 cartoons a week….
The Daily Cartoonist joins the public domain crowd by presenting the adaptation of 1927’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin film. Itself an adaptation of the 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe classic which was in public domain at the time of the movie. In 1928 Universal re-released their 1927 silent film Uncle Tom’s Cabin with a soundtrack. The publicity…
Public domain Mickey (aka Steamboat Willie) continues to appear in comic strips. Ruben Bolling‘s newest Tom the Dancing Bug character reappears today after being introduced last week. Tuesday saw GoComics hit the P.D.Mickey trifecta. Rabbits Against Magic and Looks Good on Paper saw Mickey in a couple one-shots. Rabbits more a cameo. Lalo Alcaraz however…
Continuing with Mike’s plagiarism theme of this morning we come to MalMidjourney. During the New Year’s weekend, artists linked to a Google Sheet on the social media platforms X (formerly known as Twitter) and Bluesky, alleging that it showed how Midjourney developed a database of time periods, styles, genres, movements, mediums, techniques, and thousands of…
The Monster and Mike Doonesbury, Milholland and The Mouse, Hugs and Kisses from Peanuts, Bret Blevins and Judge Alan Parker, The Comics Journal’s 2023 Best Name Checks a few Comic Strips, Cleveland Scene’s Comics Issue, and Love to Ramona Fradon on her Retiring at age 97. It’s that time of year when we get bonus…
Adam@Home (AMS) is in an optimistic mood as 2024 has launched, though not quite as much in a hurry as his wife, who I suspect is only trying to encourage him, given that they’ve been married long enough to have a couple of kids on the brink of middle school. After all, encouraging him has…
So yesterday I’m scrolling through Facebook when among the innumerable “suggested for you” posts comes a comic panel so I linger over it – the one below on the left. While it wasn’t a high resolution scan the cartoonist’s name seemed to be blurred even more than the rest of the image. It is of…