Popeye can punch without permission and Tintin can roam freely starting in 2025. The two classic comic characters who first appeared in 1929 are among the intellectual properties becoming public domain in the US on Jan 1. It means they can be used and repurposed without permission or payment to copyright holders.
Popeye the Sailor, with his bulging forearms, mealy-mouthed speech, and propensity for fistfights, was created by E C Segar and made his first appearance in the newspaper strip “Thimble Theater” in 1929. The supposed one-off appearance became permanent, and the strip would be renamed “Popeye”.
But as with Mickey Mouse last year and Winnie the Pooh in 2022, only the earliest version is free for reuse. The spinach that gave the sailor his super-strength was not there from the start, and is the kind of character element that could spawn legal disputes. And the animated shorts featuring his distinctive mumbly voice didn’t begin until 1933 and remain under copyright. As does 1980 film starring Robin Williams.
That movie was tepidly received initially. So was director Steven Spielberg’s “Adventures of Tintin” in 2011. But the comics about the boy reporter that inspired it, the creation of Belgian artist Herge, were among the most popular in Europe for much of the 20th century.
The simply drawn teen with dots for eyes and bangs like an ocean wave first appeared in a supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtieme Siecle, and became a weekly feature. The comic also first appeared in the US in 1929. Its signature bright colours – including Tintin’s red hair – didn’t appear until years later, and could, like Popeye’s spinach, be the subject of legal disputes. And in much of the world, Tintin won’t become public property until 70 years after the 1983 death of his creator.
The books becoming public this year read like syllabus for an American literature seminar. William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury”, Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms” and John Steinbeck’s first novel “A Cup of Gold” will also enter the public domain.
