Public domain comics are those that are no longer protected by copyright law due to the legal procedure required to maintain copyright protection not being followed. Many publications from the 1930s and 1940s have become public domain comics. Early comic book creators and publishers generally had no idea they were creating an enduring art form, leading many of these publications to later become public domain comics. Until the 1990s, it was standard practice in the comics industry for artists to sign “work-for-hire” contracts, giving up all legal rights to the work to the publisher.
Public domain comics are comics that are no longer protected by copyright law. This is usually because the legal procedure required to maintain copyright protection has not been followed, allowing the copyright on the material to lapse. This often happens because the publisher went out of business by the time the copyright renewal is due. The artist and the writer, meanwhile, do not have the legal legitimacy to renew the copyrights because the comic was a commissioned work. Many publications from the 1930s and 1940s, considered the golden age of comics, have become public domain comics.
Copyright law is designed to protect creators of public works by allowing them to decide how their works are used or displayed and to receive payment when such use occurs. The United States and most other nations have their own copyright laws, and further protection is afforded by the international agreement called the Berne Convention. Works created in the United States from the 1920s to the 1960s required registration and renewal to enjoy this protection. If these requirements were not met, copyright protection lapses and the work effectively becomes public property. The legal term for this status is “public domain.”
Early comic book creators and publishers generally had no idea that they were creating an enduring art form. In the 1930s and 1940s, comics were often thought of as disposable entertainment for children. This view persisted among comic book artists and publishers, as well as the general public. Comic magazines were often produced and published cheaply, and were not expected to have any value after they hit the newsstands. This kind of thinking led many of these publications to later become public domain comics.
In those early days, comic magazines were seeing millions in sales, figures they would not see again until the 1990s. Many artists saw comics as a necessary chore to pay the bills until more prestigious work was available; they often used pseudonyms. Meanwhile, publishers were printing comics to take advantage of booming sales. When it faded away in the 1950s, many of them abandoned comics for more successful ventures in or outside the publishing industry. Few cared enough to renew the copyrights on these books, allowing them to become public domain comics instead.
Until the 1990s, it was standard practice in the comics industry for artists to sign “work-for-hire” contracts. This meant that they gave up all legal rights to the work to the publisher. So even if they had an interest in copyrighting their work, few artists had the legal or financial resources to do so. Early stories featuring characters such as Captain Marvel, Sheena the Jungle Queen and Phantom Lady became public domain comics. These characters have since been revived by other publishers; some of the original comics are available for free download on the Internet.
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