MUMBAI: The copyright on the cartoon character Popeye has expired to thrust it into the public domain in Europe. According to the Europe copyright law, an author‘s rights lay protected only until 70 years after his/her death.
Elzie Segar, creator of this spinach-munching character, died at the age of 43 in 1938.
Also, Britain’s copyright law is such that now anyone can sell merchandise like posters and T-shirts using Segar’s Popeye artwork, and even create new Popeye comics and TV series, without permission and without having to pay any sort of royalty.
In the US, however, Popeye will remain copyrighted until 2024 as US protects rights for 95 years after the author‘s death.
