Commons:Character copyrights

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Per COM:CHARACTER, all appearances of a character are covered by copyright so long as the character's first appearance is still protected by copyright, even if those appearances are in otherwise public domain works. Future appearances will give rise to their own copyrights. The following table gives the copyright information for various popular characters:

Wikimedia Commons and its servers are located in the United States and follow American copyright length, as well as the country of origin. If a work is public domain in both countries, it may be uploaded.

Green background colors indicates that a character is in public domain while flaxen colors indicates unclear copyright status (unclear for us, as of February 2024).

Literature Origin

[edit]
Character First appearance Source country Expiration Notes Original author/copyright owner Renewal (if applicable)
Pinocchio Giornale per i bambini (1881-1882), The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) Italy 1920 The original character was never copyrighted in the United States. The Disney version is copyrighted until 2036. Carlo Collodi (d. 1890)
Zorro The Curse of Capistrano (1919) United States 1995 Often has issues with trademarks
Cthulhu "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928) United States Despite several claims to the contrary, there is currently no evidence that any company or individual owns the copyright to any of Lovecraft's works, and it is generally accepted that it has passed into the public domain.[1][2] Lovecraft himself was extremely generous with his own works, and actively encouraged others to borrow ideas from his stories, particularly with regard to his Cthulhu Mythos.

Many of the writers Lovecraft collaborated with lived on much later into the 20th century, e.g. Clark Ashton Smith (d. 1961), August Derleth (d. 1971), Robert Bloch (d. 1994) etc. Certain elements of the Mythos are theirs, or have been created by other still-living authors. What these writers created in the Mythos won't enter the public domain until later on, unless their creations are already in public domain if the copyrights to the stories weren't renewed.

H. P. Lovecraft (d. 1937)
Sherlock Holmes A Study in Scarlet (1887) United Kingdom 2000 (UK) In the US, the character was never copyrighted, but the final Arthur Conan Doyle story entered the public domain in 2023. Arthur Conan Doyle (d. 1930) None
Winnie-the-Pooh and related characters Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) United Kingdom/United States 2047 (UK) / 2022 (US)

Some Pooh works were simultaneously published in the United States so they're public domain for our purposes.

Disney's character designs are still under copyright until the 2060s.

A. A. Milne (d. 1956) and E.H. Shepherd (d. 1976) Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) RE0000636587

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) RE0000718378

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) RE0000869560

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) RE0000903184

Sam Spade The Black Mask (1929) United States 2025

The Maltese Falcon was initially serialized in The Black Mask [a][b]

Later printed in full as The Maltese Falcon (1930)

In Warner Bros. Pictures v. Columbia Broadcasting System the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the character of Sam Spade was ineligible for copyright because "if the character is only the chessman in the game of telling the story he is not within the area of the protection afforded by the copyright" and that Sam Spade and other "characters were vehicles for the story told".

Dashiell Hammett (d. 1961) R179950-R179952 and R202664-202665 for the serial

R205663 for 1930 novel

Conan the Barbarian Weird Tales (1932) United States 2028 Conan appeared in "The Phoenix on the Sword" in 1932, he also appeared earlier the same year in "People of the Dark", neither story had their copyrights renewed. Robert E. Howard (d. 1936)
Nancy Drew The Secret of the Old Clock (1930) United States 2026 Later re-written in 1959; which has its own copyright Mildred Benson (d. 2002) under pseudonym Carolyn Keene

Russell H. Tandy (d. 1963) for illustrations

R197875
Tsathoggua Weird Tales (1931) United States 2027 Part of the Hyperborean cycle and the Cthulhu Mythos.

Originally created by Clark Ashton Smith for the story "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros", but appeared in stories by his friends Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft before his story was published ("The Children of the Night" and "The Whisperer in Darkness" respectively)

Clark Ashton Smith (d. 1961) R230427 for the issue of Weird Tales with "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros"
Babar the Elephant The Story of Babar (1931) France 2027 (US)/2008 (France) The first Babar book was published in France in 1931, and in the United States in 1933. Jean de Brunhoff (d. 1937)

Be careful not to use illustrations by his son, Laurent de Brunhoff, who took over his father's series and died in 2024.

R265890 for The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (1934) United Kingdom/United States 2030 (US)/2067 (UK) The first Poppins book was published simultaneously in the United States

The Mary Poppins character, in a much less defined way, first appeared in a 1926 short story Mary Poppins And the Match-Man that was published in New Zealand's The Sun

P. L. Travers (d. 1996) R292340 for the first book
Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler Gone with the Wind (1936) United States 2032

The film from 1939 will be public domain in 2035

Margaret Mitchell (d. 1949) R318689-318690 for the 1936 novel

R399224 for the 1939 film

Bilbo Baggins The Hobbit (1937) United Kingdom 2033 (US) / 2044 (UK) Houghton Mifflin published the first American edition of The Hobbit in spring of 1938 J. R. R. Tolkien (d. 1973) Copyright was restored under Uruguay Round Agreements Act
The Thing (from another world) Who Goes There? (1938) United States 2034 First published in Astounding Science Fiction in the August 1938 edition John W. Campbell (d. 1971) R365826 for the August 1938 edition
Madam Mim The Sword in the Stone (1938) United Kingdom 2035 (UK/US) First published in the United States in 1939 T. H. White (d. 1964) R377500
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1939) United States 2035 The 1964 television special is in the public domain due to an improper copyright notice. However the special is restricted as a derivative work of the original character, song, and other copyrighted elements present

Sound recordings of the 1949 song will not enter the public domain until 2060

Robert L. May (d. 1976) R404750 for the 1939 book

R639542 for the 1949 song

Horton the Elephant Horton Hatches the Egg (1940) United States 2036 "Dr. Seuss" (d. 1991) R428772
Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas the Tank Engine (1946) United Kingdom 2042 (US) / 2068 (UK) Wilbert Awdry (d. 1997)
Mike Hammer I, the Jury (1947) United States 2043 Mickey Spillane (d. 2006) R608341
Winston Smith Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) United Kingdom 2045 (US) / 2021 (UK) George Orwell (d. 1950) R641953
Aslan The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) United Kingdom 2046 (US) / 2034 (UK) C. S. Lewis (d. 1963) Copyright restored under the URAA
Hercule Poirot The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) United Kingdom 2047 (UK) / 1976 (US) Agatha Christie (d. 1976)
Miss Marple The Royal Magazine (1927) United Kingdom 2047 (UK) / 2023 (US) First novel was The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie (d. 1976) R209544 for 1930 book
Guy Montag Fahrenheit 451 (1953) United States 2049 Ray Bradbury (d. 2012) RE0000105689
James Bond Casino Royale (1953) United Kingdom 2049 (US) / 2035 (UK) Simultatenously published in the US and UK

Later film rights under separate copyrights

Ian Fleming (d. 1964) RE0000108490 for the 1953 book
Norman Bates Psycho (1959) United States 2055 The Hitchcock film is separately copyrighted until 2056 Robert Bloch (d. 1994) RE0000319609 for the book

RE0000400889 for the 1960 film

Animation Origin

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Character First appearance Source country Expiration Notes Original author/copyright owner Renewal (if applicable)
Tweety A Tale of Two Kitties (1942) United States 1970 Known as "Orson" in his first appearance, and first named Tweety in his second appearance, Birdy and the Beast.

Later character design first used in Tweetie Pie is still copyrighted.

Bob Clampett (d. 1984) No known renewal for the first short.

R524619 for Birdy and the Beast

Colonel Montgomery J. Klaxon and Calvin T. Burnside "The Television Job" (Calvin and the Colonel; 1961) United States 1990 An animated remake of Amos 'n' Andy None
Felix the Cat Feline Follies (1919) United States 1995
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Trolley Troubles (1927) United States 2023 Later redesigns by Manuel Moreno may still be copyrighted.

Original copyright for Trolley Troubles ended in 1955 when the copyright was not renewed.

Walt Disney (d. 1966)

Ub Iwerks (d. 1971)

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Steamboat Willie (1928) United States 2024 Later redesigns are still copyrighted, see here and here for lists of designs by year. Note however that the lists are only comprised of animation and comic strip art, not posters or anything else where a design would have been shown first. Walt Disney (d. 1966)

Ub Iwerks (d. 1971)

Bosko Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid (1929), Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930) United States 2026 Bosko was the first Looney Tunes character. Bosko first appeared in Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid, a test film which wasn't released in theaters.

In 1933, Harman and Ising left Warner Bros., taking the rights to the Bosko characters with them. However, Warner Bros. retained the rights to the cartoons. None of the copyrights to any of Bosko's works through 1931 seem to have been renewed.

Hugh Harman (d. 1982)

Rudolf Ising (d. 1992)

Casper the Friendly Ghost The Friendly Ghost (1945) United States 2041 The character was originally created for a children's book that went unpublished. The short film he was introduced in did not have its copyright renewed. Seymour Reit (d. 2001)

Joe Oriolo (d. 1985)

Betty Boop Dizzy Dishes (1930) United States 2026 Some later shorts not renewed R198400
Pluto The Chain Gang (1930) United States 2027

First named as Rover in The Picnic (1930)

First named as Pluto in The Moose Hunt (1931)

Walt Disney (d. 1966)

Norm Ferguson (d. 1957)

R204524 for The Chain Gang

R204528 for The Picnic

R225455 for The Moose Hunt

Buddy (Looney Tunes) Buddy's Day Out, Buddy's Beer Garden (both 1933) United States 2029 Later appeared on Animaniacs. Tom Palmer (d. 1972)
Donald Duck The Wise Little Hen (1934) United States 2030

A different Donald Duck appeared in The Adventures of Mickey Mouse (1931).[3]

Walt Disney (d. 1966)

Dick Lundy (d. 1990)

R27781 for The Wise Little Hen

R225437 for The Adventures of Mickey Mouse

Goofy Orphan's Benefit (1934) United States 2030

First appeared as Dippy Dawg in Mickey's Revue (1932)

Walt Disney (d. 1966)

Pinto Colvig (d. 1967)

R281004 for Orphans' Benefit

R237770 for Mickey's Revue

Porky Pig I Haven't Got a Hat (1935) United States 2031 Some later shorts not renewed Friz Freleng (d. 1995) R311533
Daffy Duck Porky's Duck Hunt (1937) United States 2033 Some later shorts not renewed Tex Avery (d. 1980)

Bob Clampett (d. 1984)

R363524
Bugs Bunny A Wild Hare (1940) United States 2036 Appeared in three earlier prototype versions

Several cartoons failed to have their copyrights renewed.

Complex, had several fathers R434265
Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse Puss Gets the Boot (1940) United States 2036 Not named until The Midnight Snack (1941) William Hanna (d. 2001)

Joseph Barbera (d. 2006)

R404444 for Puss Gets the Boot

R439708 for The Midnight Snack

Woody Woodpecker Knock Knock (1940) United States 2036 Walter Lantz (d. 1994)

Ben Hardaway (d. 1957)

R423773
Daisy Duck Mr. Duck Steps Out (1940) United States 2033 A prototype version called Donna Duck appeared in 1937 in the film Don Donald Carl Barks (d. 2000) R329715 for Don Donald

R411801 for Mr. Duck Steps Out

Dumbo Dumbo (1941) United States 2037

The original book from 1939[4] is not known to be extant, and its publication is dubious

Helen Aberson-Mayer (d. 1999)

Harold Pearl (d. 1975)

R442538 for the 1941 film
Mighty Mouse Mouse of Tomorrow (1942) United States 2038 Paul Terry (d. 1971)

Isadore Klein (d. 1986)

R471862
Droopy Dumb-Hounded (1943) United States 2039 Tex Avery (d. 1980) R480799
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner Fast and Furry-ous (1949) United States 2045 Chuck Jones (d. 2002)

Michael Maltese (d. 1981)

R627299
Fred Flintstone, Wilma Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Betty Rubble "The Flintstone Flyer" (The Flintstones; 1960) United States 2056 Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble were first introduced in episodes from Seasons Two and Three during 1963 and will enter the public domain in 2059 William Hanna (d. 2001)

Joseph Barbera (d. 2006)

RE0000396998 for The Flintstone Flyer (1960)

RE0000555065 for The Blessed Event (1963) RE0000547359 for Little Bamm-Bamm (1963)

Comic Origin

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Character First appearance Source country Expiration Notes Original author/copyright owner Renewal (if applicable)
Captain Marvel (Fawcett Comics), Shazam, Doctor Sivana Whiz Comics #2 (1940) United States 1968 Several issues of Whiz Comics didn't have their copyrights renewed.

Later depictions of the characters, as published by Fawcett and DC, have separate copyrights

Bill Parker (d. 1963)

C. C. Beck (d. 1989)

Plastic Man Police Comics #1 (1941) United States 1969 Later editions and usages still subject to copyright Jack Cole (d. 1958) No renewal
Blackhawk Military Comics #1 (1941) United States 1969 Not renewed Chuck Cuidera (d. 2001)

Bob Powell (d. 1967)

Will Eisner (d. 2005)

Garfield Jon (1976) United States 1976 The original Jon and Garfield strips were published in the Pendleton Times from 1976 to 1978. Neither the strips nor the newspaper in which they were published included any copyright notice. The Garfield comic strip began including copyright notices only once picked up for syndication in 1978.

The appearance of Garfield in Jon and in the 1977–78 strips differs from his appearance in more recent strips. New material from the later series is separately copyrighted.

Jim Davis (currently living)
Buck Rogers Buck Rogers comic strip (1929) United States 2025 Buck Rogers is based on Anthony Rogers from Armageddon 2419 A.D. (1928), a work that was not renewed. Many now iconic parts of Buck Rogers are later additions to the character. For example, Buck Rogers first ventured into space in January 1930. Philip Francis Nowlan (d. 1940)
Namor Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1, Marvel Comics #1 (both 1939) United States 2035 The character appeared in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, likely first published before Marvel Comics; the former doesn't seem to have had its copyright renewed. Bill Everett (d. 1973)
Popeye Thimble Theatre (1929) United States 2025 Several of Paramount's cartoons did not have their copyrights renewed. E. C. Segar (d. 1938) R164887
Dick Tracy Dick Tracy comic strip (1931) United States 2027 Chester Gould (d. 1985)
Nancy Ritz Fritzi Ritz comic strip (January 2, 1933) United States 2029 Ernie Bushmiller (d. 1982)
Flash Gordon Flash Gordon comic strip (1934) United States 2030 Alex Raymond (d. 1956)
Li'l Abner Li'l Abner comic strip (1934) United States 2030 Al Capp (d. 1979)
Snuffy Smith Barney Google comic strip (November 17, 1934) United States 2030 Billy DeBeck (d. 1942)

Fred Lasswell (d. 2001)

Mandrake the Magician Mandrake the Magician comic strip (1934) United States 2030 Lee Falk (d. 1999)
The Phantom The Phantom comic strip (1936) United States 2032 Lee Falk (d. 1999)
Prince Valiant Prince Valiant comic (1937) United States 2033 Hal Foster (d. 1982)
Huey, Dewey, and Louie Donald Duck comic strip (October 17, 1937) United States 2033 First appeared in animation in Donald's Nephews (1938) Ted Osborne (d. 1968)

Al Taliaferro (d. 1969)

R354206 for comic

R361885 for animated short

The Addams Family The New Yorker cartoon (6 August, 1938)[5] United States 2034 The family members wouldn't get names until later on. Charles Addams (d. 1988) R366101 for the August 6, 1938 edition of The New Yorker
Superman Action Comics #1 (1938) United States 2034 The Paramount cartoons did not have their copyrights renewed. Jerry Siegel (d. 1996)

Joe Shuster (d. 1992)

R362187
Batman Detective Comics #27 (1939) United States 2035 Bob Kane (d. 1998)

Bill Finger (d. 1974)

R383871
The Phantom Blot Mickey Mouse comic strip (May 22, 1939) United States 2035 Floyd Gottfredson (d. 1986)

Merrill De Maris (d. 1948)

Robin Detective Comics #38 (1940) United States 2036 For the Dick Grayson version; later versions had separate copyrights Bob Kane (d. 1998)

Bill Finger (d. 1974)

Jerry Robinson (d. 2011)

R415982
The Spirit "The Origin of The Spirit" (June 2, 1940) United States 2036 Will Eisner (d. 2005)
The Flash Flash Comics #1 (1940) United States 2036 Jay Garrick version is from 1940

Later versions like Barry Allen and Wally West debuted in 1956 and 1959, respectively; West first became The Flash in 1986 before he was Kid Flash

Gardner Fox (d. 1986)

Harry Lampert (d. 2004)

R412577 for the 1940 comic
Green Lantern All-American Comics #16 (1940) United States 2036 Alan Scott is the version from 1940

Later versions like Hal Jordan and John Stewart debuted in 1959 and 1971, respectively

Martin Nodell (d. 2006)

Bill Finger (d. 1974)

R421919 for the 1940 comic
Captain America Captain America Comics #1 (1941) United States 2036 While the comic was cover dated for 1941, it was copyrighted in December, 1940 Joe Simon (d. 2011)

Jack Kirby (d. 1994)

R429502
Archie Andrews Pep Comics #22 (1941) United States 2037 Archie was inspired by Andy Hardy, who first appeared in the play Skidding (1928), a work that is now in public domain. John L. Goldwater (d. 1999)

Bob Montana (d. 1975)

Vic Bloom (d. 1983)

Wonder Woman All Star Comics #8 (1941) United States 2037 William Moulton Marston (d. 1947)

H. G. Peter (d. 1958)

R457919
Aquaman More Fun Comics #73 (1941) United States 2037 Mort Weisinger (d. 1978)

Paul Norris (d. 2007)

R461009
Green Arrow More Fun Comics #73 (1941) United States 2037 Mort Weisinger (d. 1978)

George Papp (d. 1989)

R461009
Pogo Animal Comics #1 (1941) United States 2037 The character would get a new design in 1948 when he got a comic strip. Walt Kelly (d. 1973)
Scrooge McDuck Christmas on Bear Mountain (1947) United States 2043 Carl Barks (d. 2000) R592670[6]
Iron Man (Canadian comics) Better Comics #1 (1941) Canada 2045 (Canada) / 2037 (US) The first Canadian superhero. Vernon Miller (d. 1974)
Nelvana of the Northern Lights Triumph-Adventure Comics #1 (1941) Canada 2045 (Canada) / 2037 (US) The first Canadian national superhero. Adrian Dingle (d. 1974)
Beetle Bailey Beetle Bailey (1950) United States 2046 Mort Walker (d. 2018)
Charlie Brown Peanuts (1950) United States 2046 Charles M. Schulz (d. 2000)
Tintin Le Petit Vingtième, strip (1929) Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, book (1930) Belgium 2054 (Belgium/France) / 2025 (US) The first American release of the series was by Golden Press in 1959. Hergé (d. 1983) Copyrights of French works restored by Uruguay Round Agreements Act

Radio/Sound Origin

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Character First appearance Source country Expiration Notes Original author/copyright owner Renewal (if applicable)
The Shadow Detective Story Hour (July 31, 1930) United States 2027 First appeared on radio as a storyteller with a creepy voice and laugh, later became a full-fledged character in pulp fiction. Walter B. Gibson (d. 1985)
Gerald McBoing-Boing Gerald McBoing-Boing, children's record (1950) United States 2046 "Dr. Seuss" (d. 1991)
Alvin and the Chipmunks The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) (1958) United States 2054 Ross Bagdasarian (d. 1972)

References

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  1. Serialization was from September, 1929 through January, 1930
  2. The January, 1930 edition was copyrighted in December, 1929