E.C. comics?

Are E.C. horror comics in the public domain?

I haven't done a lot of research into this, but most of EC Comics' output that I've looked into had their Copyrights renewed, so the quick answer from me is: No, it doesn't appear that EC Comics' horror titles are Public Domain.

bchat,

Moon Girl was from EC right? Any idea if her appearances are confirmed to be PD. I've been looking to download Moon Girl comics, but I can't find them anywhere. It's a shame because she seems like a great character.

argosail wrote:

bchat,

Moon Girl was from EC right? Any idea if her appearances are confirmed to be PD. I've been looking to download Moon Girl comics, but I can't find them anywhere. It's a shame because she seems like a great character.

I looked into this a while ago and did not find renewals for "Moon Girl" published by EC Comics. This is something I want to look into again, since I think she first appeared in several other comic titles before getting her own book and, of course, I want to double-check to make sure I didn't miss any renewals.

Technically speaking, a "character" would only be Public Domain if their first appearance does not have a valid Copyright, because a Copyright Holder, under US Copyright Laws, has the exclusive right to create "derivative works". In the case of comics, a "derivative work" bascially means more stories starring specific characters. If the first appearance of Moon Girl has a valid Copyright, then Moon Girl may not be Public Domain, even though/if issues of her own title were "Copyright-free".
It's like the Fleischer Studios' Superman cartoons: Those cartoons are Public Domain, but since DC Comics has valid Copyrights on every comic book appearance that pre-dates those cartoons, the "character" of Superman is not PD.

The Digital Comics Museum & Golden Age Comics websites won't touch anything from EC Comics since the bulk of their production (their horror titles) had their Copyrights renewed. Personally, I don't get why they won't host every book that's Public Domain, regardless of who the publisher was, but that's their decision to make, not mine.
Anyway, I am pretty sure that files for Moon Girl's comic book series are out there somewhere, although you may have to go into one of the darker corners of the internet to find them.