Archie/MLJ Heroes

Hi,Argosail,
According to the PDSH wikia site,
The Original Golden age Archie/MLJ Heroes
are in the public domain.
Does That mean anyone can use them?
Because,I Would like to use them in any stories i write and draw.
Please let me know.
Thank You!

Hey, man. That was my impression, i was pretty psyched

A quote from one of the US Copyright Office's circulars: "A work that has fallen into the public domain, that is, a work that is no longer protected by copyright, may be used for a derivative work".

If it's Public Domain, anyone can use it any way they like. There are, of course & unfortunately, people online that argue that Archie Comics owns the characters or that the characters/stories are not Public Domain, but those people usually know very little about US Copyright laws.

I haven't done the research, and one guy who went to DC and did look up renewals neglected to look up the old Archie comics, because I guess he assumed they were protected. The guys on Digital Comics Museum seem to think they are PD. Does anyone know for sure if they were renewed or not?

I'm hoping not. I added the Comet to the Free Universe site, and the Shield is next. I also have plans to add The Hangman, The Web, The Fox and a few others. I also have some plans to use Shield in an online comic.

argosail wrote:

I haven't done the research, and one guy who went to DC and did look up renewals neglected to look up the old Archie comics, because I guess he assumed they were protected. The guys on Digital Comics Museum seem to think they are PD. Does anyone know for sure if they were renewed or not?

I'm hoping not. I added the Comet to the Free Universe site, and the Shield is next. I also have plans to add The Hangman, The Web, The Fox and a few others. I also have some plans to use Shield in an online comic.

Wow,That is real cool,I Would like to use those characters in any stories and comics i write and draw.

argosail wrote:

I haven't done the research, and one guy who went to DC and did look up renewals neglected to look up the old Archie comics, because I guess he assumed they were protected. The guys on Digital Comics Museum seem to think they are PD. Does anyone know for sure if they were renewed or not?

I'm hoping not. I added the Comet to the Free Universe site, and the Shield is next. I also have plans to add The Hangman, The Web, The Fox and a few others. I also have some plans to use Shield in an online comic.

I have searched for renewals on a few titles from MLJ, because, years ago, I got tired of hearing conflicting opinions of what the Copyright status for those Golden Age books/characters were. Like most people, I only assumed that Archie Comics owned the characters lock, stock & barrell because they still existed as a publisher and they were the only company to use those characters. I know better now.

Looking at Pep Comics, for example, the first Copyright Renewal that I found was for issue 72, which is well past the point that MLJ was producing superhero stories. From what I can tell, Archie Comics did not start renewing Copyrights until some time around 1977.

Anyone looking to check Copyright Renewals for the books MLJ (aka Archie Comics) published should go here: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/

bchat wrote:

argosail wrote:

I haven't done the research, and one guy who went to DC and did look up renewals neglected to look up the old Archie comics, because I guess he assumed they were protected. The guys on Digital Comics Museum seem to think they are PD. Does anyone know for sure if they were renewed or not?

I'm hoping not. I added the Comet to the Free Universe site, and the Shield is next. I also have plans to add The Hangman, The Web, The Fox and a few others. I also have some plans to use Shield in an online comic.

I have searched for renewals on a few titles from MLJ, because, years ago, I got tired of hearing conflicting opinions of what the Copyright status for those Golden Age books/characters were. Like most people, I only assumed that Archie Comics owned the characters lock, stock & barrell because they still existed as a publisher and they were the only company to use those characters. I know better now.

Looking at Pep Comics, for example, the first Copyright Renewal that I found was for issue 72, which is well past the point that MLJ was producing superhero stories. From what I can tell, Archie Comics did not start renewing Copyrights until some time around 1977.

Anyone looking to check Copyright Renewals for the books MLJ (aka Archie Comics) published should go here: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/

Yeah,Like I said,I Would like to use the golden age characters in any stories and comic books i write and draw.
That is great news.

So, if I wanted to publish a comic entitled "Beware... The Black Jack!" I should be good?

I think that would be okay, I don't think anyone, including Archie has published a comic called Black Jack in the last 5 years, the name black jack is pretty common, and you're adding a unique modifier. I'm no lawyer, but that sounds pretty safe to me. One reason I don't recommend using PD characters as title characters, is that it draws the attention of big companies who may try to intimidate you and threaten a lawsuit anyway. They may not be able to win, but they might be able to scare you into abandoning the project. I hope these boards will continue to grow, and show that the general public has an increasing awareness of their rights, offering a deterrant to unjustified suits.