Recent Comments

1. about 9 hours ago on Strange Brew

   Maybe Bird-guess Meredith.

2. about 9 hours ago on UFO

   Well, it seems this comic strip has been a hit.

3. 1 day ago on Baldo

   FLIBADIP!

4. 1 day ago on Diamond Lil

   Quadrupeds Rock!

5. 1 day ago on Wallace the Brave

   We’re not haters. We’re trying to make @numbuluscloud aware that he should ask permission first, because in cost of infringement is high and the cost of asking permission is low. Just because he thinks he’s not infringing doesn’t mean he isn’t. Just because he’s not using Wallace the Brave characters in a non-negative way, doesn’t mean that he won’t be pulling paying customers away from Will Henry. Asking permission protects both Mr. Henry and numbuluscloud.

6. 1 day ago on Wallace the Brave

   What you’re doing will most likely be considered a Derivative Work under U.S. Copyright Law. The copyright holder has the right to allow or disallow any derivative work.

   U.S. Copyright Law considers Fair Use exceptions to a copyrighted work based on the following factors (cf., Chapter 1, Section 107) :

   “(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

   (2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

   (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

   (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work."

   These exceptions are fleshed out a bit more on the U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index website. One of the clarifications (of #1 above) that bears on your proposed work is “This does not mean, however, that all nonprofit education and noncommercial uses are fair and all commercial uses are not fair; instead, courts will balance the purpose and character of the use against the other factors”.

   Another clarification (of #3 above) that needs to be considered is “…in other contexts, using even a small amount of a copyrighted work was determined not to be fair because the selection was an important part—or the “heart”—of the work.” It can easily be argued in court that the characters from Wallace the Brave are an important part of the original work.

   Please note that a copyright court will consider all these factors. So being noncommercial and saying you are transformative doesn’t give a free pass on factor #1. A court may rule that using Wallace the Brave characters makes the derivative work insufficiently transformative.

   Why make a fuss about all this? Simply put, copyright stuff is complicated and the impacts of infringement are high (cf. 17 U.S. Code § 504). It’s worth your time and effort to ask permission from William Wilson before you go live.

7. 1 day ago on UFO

   Quack!

8. 1 day ago on UFO

   Order just one. The Glaarg will lunch on the delivery person and you will get the sandwich.

9. 3 days ago on Shoe

   Pastis would be proud.

10. 3 days ago on Rip Haywire

    If my universal translator has it correct, the “chirp” by the eagle means “you still haven’t given me the pancakes you promised”.