Copyright Laws for Cartoons

by Andrew Latham
Copyright laws protect cartoons and other creative expressions whether or not they have a copyright notice.


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Cartoons can be funny, but the copyright laws that protect them are serious business. Cartoons receive the same protection under the law as any other creative expression, such as books, photographs and music. If you use a cartoon without the express authorization of the copyright owner, usually the author, you could face hefty fines and imprisonment.

Constitutional Provision

The Founding Fathers felt strongly about protecting a creator's right to his creations. Article 1, Section 8, of the United States Constitution specifically grants Congress the power to write laws that grant exclusive rights to authors and inventors over their works. Since Congress first used this authority with the passing of the Copyright Act of 1790, copyright laws continue to be written and amended under the same constitutional provision.

Copyright Law

The Copyright Act of 1976 grants exclusive rights to authors over their cartoons and other creations for the duration of their life plus an additional 70 years. In the case of anonymous cartoons or cartoons made for hire, the protection lasts for 95 years from the date they were first published or 120 years from their creation. The Sonny Bono Act of 1998 gave works created after 1923 a 20-year extension of copyright protection. This means cartoons created after 1923 won't enter the public domain until at least 2019.

Display of Copyright

Until 1989, only creative works that displayed a formal notice of copyright received legal protection. A cartoon that didn't have a copyright notice could be considered part of the public domain, which is why older cartoons are pockmarked with copyright signs. Since 1989 -- when the United States adopted the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 -- creative works no longer require a formal notice of copyright. The copyright of all cartoons created since 1923 is implied whether or not they have a formal notice.

Copyright Registration

Although cartoon authors don't need to register their work to receive copyright protection, artists who take the trouble to formally register their work do enjoy important advantages. In the case of works created in the United States, you can't file a suit for copyright infringement on a cartoon until you first register it. Also, if you register your work within three months of publishing it -- or before an infringement of copyright -- you can claim for statutory damages and attorney's fees. Copyright owners of unregistered works may only sue for actual damages and lost profits, which are harder to prove.

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