Cartoonists and the law: Susie Cagle arrested, charged with misdemeanor
Cartoonist Susie Cagle -- who was previously teargassed during another confrontation -- was arrested as part of the Occupy Oakland protest on Wednesday night. Cagle was not there as a protester, but as a reporter, covering the scene for Spot.us. According to Cagle's father, Cagle was arrested despite having a prominent press pass and the arresting officer actually knowing her and her work. After being held overnight at Santa Rita Jail, Cagle was released, and charged with the misdemeanor of "present at raid." On her twitter stream she mentions she's currently trying to retrieve her wallet and housekeys from the Oakland police.
Continue ReadingCartoonists and the law: Steve Rude update
Following up news of Monday's arrest of Steve "The Dude" Rude on charges of assault and violating a restraining order, Tom Spurgeon got further details of the night in question from Rude's wife Jaynelle. It seems that on Halloween evening, Steve was outside, in costume, giving out Halloween candy, when barking dogs in a neighbor's yard distracted the Dude, which led him to throw rocks at the fence in front of the dogs. The owners of the dogs -- who had previously obtained the restraining order against Rude -- came out and an argument ensued, which ended with Rude physically shoving one of the neighbors and ripping his shirt off. Rude then returned to handing out his Halloween candy until the police showed up and arrested him.
Continue ReadingJudge rules Tintin in the Congo is not racist
Tintin isn't racist. He's just drawn that way. So ruled a Belgian judge yesterday in a long running attempt to get TINTIN IN THE CONGO, the second book in the popular series, banned on account of racism. The book -- like many of its era -- uses typical racial "blackface" caricatures for the natives and portrays them as childish buffoons. Originally drawn in 1931, Tintin creator Hergé revised it in 1946 and redrew a few panels in 1975 -- but only to tone down a scene where a rhino is stuffed with dynamite, not because of any racial overtones.
Continue ReadingSteve Rude is out of jail but you can stil help him — UPDATED
Well, you won't need to help bail him out, but on his Facebook page, artist Steve Rude's wife, Jaynellle reports that the artist was arrested over a dispute with neighbors.
Continue ReadingJoe Giella artwork stolen
Golden/Silver age artist Joe Giella who worked for Fawcett in the Golden Age and inked things like Gil Kane's Green Lantern in the Silver age, has had some artwork stolen. Jim Amash reports that "A certain person Joe Giella trusted apparently stole a few pieces of original comic art from his house, mostly likely on Sept. 7 and Oct. 13 of this year. We want to get the word out so that anyone who may have already purchased this work or may be contacted about it will know it's considered stolen property, and hopefully will help get Joe's artwork back to him. A police report has been filed in the case, but spreading the word to the comics art community is absolutely vital."
Continue ReadingFOUND: The Superman check that changed history
Looking upon the images of this check inspires both awe and revulsion. Awe that such a key part of American cultural history has been found. Revulsion that the American comic book industry was birthed in exploitation of the creators. And before anybody gets up in the comments to complain about "the greedy family," know that buying all rights in perpetuity was not necessarily the standard even in 1938.
Continue ReadingLegal Right & Ethical Mights (To Do Friday)
BY JEN VAUGHN - This Friday, 'Marvel' will face the ghost of Jack Kirby when professor and attorney Oliver Goodenough squares off against creator rights advocate and cartoonist Steve Bissette.
Continue ReadingJury finds Michael George guilty once more
The 20-year legal saga of Michael George reached another conclusion when he was found guilty again in the murder of his wife.
Continue ReadingNew witness in the Michael George trial
A new Michael George trial is underway, the latest in a 20-year saga of murder and justice, You'll recall that George, a prominent comics shop owner and formerly the show runner for the PIttsburgh Comic-Con, was accused of the murder of his wife in 1990 a few years ago, stood trial, and was found guilty. However, that verdict was overturned because of evidence that the prosecution was found to have withheld from the defense. While it seems mind boggling that this legal matter is still going on, the Detroit News reports that a new witness may shed light on the crime.
Continue ReadingTHE LEGAL VIEW: Superman vs. Clark Kent
My last post explored how continuities between the cover image of Action Comics #1 and subsequent material could give DC a substantial part of the copyright in the original Superman. One question left unaddressed, however, was the issue of Clark Kent, not to mention other key elements of Superman’s character and mythos appearing in that historic first issue. In this post, let’s take a quick look at that question and the role it could play in bringing this case to an end.
Continue ReadingRenton, WA discovers the mockery was coming from inside the police station!
An oddball story that has only been seen on comics sites because it contains the word "cartoonist" or "cartoon" and keeps showing up on everyone's google news dump, is still fairly incredible in its own right. However to really get all the excitement you probably need to live in Renton, WA., a quiet Seattle suburb that was rocked by a scandal involving cartoon mockery of the police department.
Continue ReadingCourt documents spotlight the falling fortunes of Steve Geppi
Is there a more cautionary tale in comics than that of the failing fortunes of Diamond Comics owner and über-scollectorSteve Geppi? Daniel Best reads through some of the court documents on the Montana Estate vs Steve Geppi lawsuit we alluded to the other day, and they are not too thrilling if you are Steve Geppi, the owner of Diamond Comics and once considered the richest man in comics. In a nutshell, back in 2006, a flush Geppi offered the family or Archie artist $1,000,000 for a collection of original Archie art, while attesting that he was worth $20 million, as the attached exhibit shows. As time went by, a few things happened -- Geppi made a series of very bad deals which ate up his money, especially as the economy and the real estate market tanked; and the art also lost a lot of value:
Continue ReadingSome Kirby/Marvel links
The must-read from yesterday is Michael Dean's look at the actual court documents ALSO, Spanish cartoonist Pepo Perez has his own comments on creator ownership, here in the Google translation. That's makes for some awkwardness, but also some great stuff.
Continue ReadingMeanwhile, George Lucas loses Stormtrooper rights
WHAT? Yes. In the UK anyway. The UK Supreme Court has ruled that because the iconic garb was created as an industrial prop, the rights expired after 15 years.
Continue ReadingCourt rules in favor of Marvel in Kirby copyright case — with text of ruling and depositions
A sad day for those who hoped, perhaps against hope, that Jack "The King' Kirby's heirs would get some of the money their father's creations have made over the years. Characters including Captain America (created in the '40s with Joe Simon), The Hulk, Iron Man and Thor-- you know, if they called next year's potential biggest-movie-of-all-time THE AVENEGRS "JACK KIRBY'S AVENGERS" they would not be far from the mark. Deadline has analysis, seeing it as a big setback for lawyer Marc Toberoff, who has won many unlikely IP cases against giant studios in the past:
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