In 16 months Mickey Mouse‘s official debut* animated cartoon, Steamboat Willie, will go public domain, but The Mouse will remain very much a Disney property. © Disney The iconic character that has come to define the entire Disney brand made his first appearance as the title character in 1928’s Steamboat Willie, which will lapse into […]
Book publishers just spent 3 weeks in court arguing they have no idea what they’re doing On August 22, oral arguments ended in the Justice Department’s antitrust trial to block the book publisher Penguin Random House from merging with rival Simon & Schuster. The result of the trial, which is expected to be decided later […]
Can a caricaturist sell copies of his caricature of Jack Nicholson or any celebrity on T-shirts at some store or over the internet? How about all those caricature prints selling daily on eBay and Etsy? Each case has its own individual facts and facets, but the underlying law that allows public figures to protect the value of their […]
When last we checked in with Bud Fisher he had created the first successful daily newspaper comic strip* Mr. A. Mutt, which debuted on November 15, 1907 in the San Francisco Chronicle. The daily was an instant San Francisco treat and proved to be a great circulation booster for M. H. de Young‘s newspaper, which […]
Today’s Zits (KFS) illustrates the problem I have with podcasts. It’s not that they’re a collection of belches and farts, exactly, but they tend to be just about that rigorous in the way they’re set up and planned out. There’s already a certain amount of ego involved in thinking people want to know what’s on […]