Last March I posted news that actor Warren Beatty and Tribune Media Services were in a legal scrap over the movie rights of the Dick Tracy character. Beatty had the rights and made the 1990 Dick Tracy movie in which he starred, however TMS says that the rights were lost after a decade. The latest […]
Nina Paley, creator of the short lived comic strip (King Features Syndicate, 2002-2003) Sita Sings the Blues is releasing her comic under the Creative Commons license. Under the Share Alike license, she is allowing others to distribute her work (and derivative works) as long as the work produced is also distributed under the same license. […]
Animation» Ted Rall and David Essman team up for another editorial animation. Books» Moonbase Press has announced that it has the fourteenth collection of cartoonist Bill Holbrook’s groundbreaking webcomic Kevin & Kell is now available. They’ve also released a treasury edition collection of the early years of cartoonist Bill’s webcomic Kevin & Kell.Comic Strips» Stephan […]
I received an email from one cartoonist who found his work on the social photo and video hosting site Photo Bucket without his permission. It appears a user “lynn5150” has been uploading several cartoons (editorial, syndicated comics, gag cartoons, etc.) from a variety of sources. There is over 50 pages of cartoons and images that […]
Tribune Media Services has filed a lawsuit against actor Warren Beatty to regain the TV and movie rights to the Dick Tracy property. TMS alleges that Beatty “wrongfully claims” executive motion picture and television rights. Beatty purchased the writes in 1985 and released the Dick Tracy movie in 1990 which starred Dustin Hoffman, Madonna and […]
Brian Duffy, recently fired by the Des Moines Register, is considering legal action to retain the rights to his cartoons, which the Register says they will donate to the University of Iowa. Apparently, according to a sketchy report by KCCI-TV, mirrored by E&P, the newspaper considers the cartoons “work for hire,” which would give the […]
The second major paper to file bankruptcy is Minneapolis Star Tribune which made the filing to “reduce our operating costs, restructure our debt and create a financially viable business for the future” according to a report over at E&P. The filing was also a promise made good by the paper after failed negotiations between the […]
The Colombia’s coffee growers federation has opted to drop its $20 million lawsuit against Mother Goose and Grimm creator Mike Peters according to a report on Colombiareports.com. Citing sources within the federation, representatives of the association have met with Mike and have accepted his apology. They’ve also extended an invitation to Mike to travel to […]
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 […]
Mother Goose and Grimm creator Mike Peters has been sued by the The Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers over a cartoon published last week poking fun at Columbian Crime and Columbian coffee. The federation alleges that Mike’s cartoon “damages the intellectual heritage.” They’re asking for US$20 million. According to Columbiareports.com, Mike has apologized in a […]
An Australian judge has ruled that an internet animation depicting “The Simpsons” cartoon characters engaging in sexual acts is child pornography and has declared a Sydney man guilty for having it on his computer. The defense argued that the cartoons were not real children no even realistic representations of humans, but the judge found that […]
Former San Diego Union-Tribune editorial cartoonist Steve Kelley is suing his former employer for allegedly pressuring the current editorial cartoonist Steve Breen to not work with him on a collaborative comic strip that was due to launch this year. According to Voices of San Diego, an online newspaper, Kelley and Breen teamed up to create […]
I received an email last night saying that the House of Representatives was set to pass the Orphan Works Act. Not able to corroborate the announcement (that cited the Illustrators’ Partnership’s “DC Sources”) with the docket on the House of Reps web site, I opted not to post the news. The bill did not go […]
The Orphan Works Act of 2008 was delivered to a chaotic House of Representatives yesterday and was quickly “lost” in the House’s attempt to pass a $700 billion Wall Street bailout. According to Wired.com, lobbyists pushing for the bill concede that the House will not be able to take up the bill until after the […]
Ted Rall, president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) has written an official response to the Senate passage of the Orphan Works Act. It is as follows:The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) is dismayed to learn that unscrupulous members of the U.S. Senate have taken advantage of Americans’ focus on the nation’s […]