Re: a cartoon and two poems

On Wed, Oct 13, 1999, Carline Haga <carline.haga[_at_]thomson.com> wrote:
>
> On 10/12/99, Mary Lou Neighbour <mneighbo[_at_]mc3.edu> wrote:
> >
> > I am requesting the collective wisdom of the list! As the copyright
> > resource person for our College library, I have been contacted by a
> > faculty member who wants to put a tutorial on-line, which will be
> > available to her students on the College website without password
> > protection.
> >
> > She wants to use a cartoon drawn by Tom Batiuk and Tom Armstrong
> > which appears in a book published in 1981. The cartoon also has the
> > credit "Field Enterprises, Inc, Field Newspaper Syndicate." She has
> > been unable to track an address for the Field Newspaper Syndicate (or
> > Enterprises, Inc.), but she is going to contact the book publisher.
> > And though I found information on the web about Tom Batiuk, I have
> > been unable to track an address for him or for a cartoonist named
> > Tom Armstrong. Any ideas on where we should go from here would be
> > appreciated. Is there a clearing house for cartoon copyright?
> >
> > From a compilation of poems, the same instructor wants to use an
> > anonymous poem of a couple of stanzas in length. I assume she is free
> > to use this.
> >
> > The instructor also wants to use a poem that she photocopied some
> > time ago from a source which she does not remember. There is no author,
> > but there is a statement that it was reprinted from the London Sunday
> > Times, 3 January, 1965. According to UK copyright, is it necessary to
> > get permission for the use of this? I have checked various yellow page
> > websites to try and get an appropriate address for the Times, as well as
> > going to the Times website, where there is only the ability to contact
> > the webmaster and those concerned with the operation of the present-day
> > newspaper. If it is necessary to gain permission, can anyone in the UK
> > give us an appropriate address to contact the Sunday Times re. the use
> > of this poem?
>
> Cartoons formerly owned by Field Enterprises or Field Newspaper
> Syndicate now are owned by King Features Syndicate. The address
> is: 235 E. 45th Street, New York, NY 10017. Phone: 212-455-4000;
> Fax: 212-682-9763. Their web site is <http://www.kingfeatures.com/>.

A comment: We've done a lot of cartoon permissions work in the past and find them a real bear! The copyright holders changes names/addresses/phone numbers/etc. constantly. Cartoonists themselves disappear from the face of the earth (or end up in remote, hard-to-find places). It's really a pain and very labor-intensive!

Karen

Karen Porter, JD, CPCU, ARP, AIS
Copyright Counsel
American Institute for Chartered
Property & Casualty Underwriters

       and
Insurance Institute of America

E-mail:  	porterk[_at_]cpcuiia.org
Phone:	(610) 644-2100 Ext. 7545
Fax:  	(610) 651-7650