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04/01/2015

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Bob Abrahams

Cartoonists find it especially problematic when people post their comics online after removing things like their signature and.or the copyright and/or modifying the cartoon, possibly with different dialog content. Some people seem to work quite hard to make these changes without making it look like they are changes. Others are just trimming down the size. Either way, that's not permitted and the author can insist on correction or take other action.
As you said, you are publishing commentary, you don't really make money on this, and you always include the entire cartoon. That does seem to be Fair Use.

Mike Peterson

Somehow, people apparently feel that it's okay to repost if you take off the identifying signature, and I'm not taking the "resizing" argument. There was one of David Horsey's cartoons being passed around by authors, and someone had not simply trimmed his sig but had clone-stamped it out, which is nuts, given how distinctive his style is, with or without his name on it.

But while they're robbing him of recognition, setting up a booth to sell copies of other people's work is a step beyond that.

And if the amateur artist who thinks his version of a superhero is fair use can be forgiven for his ignorance, the people selling him the booth space certainly should know better.

What Tom describes is unacceptable.

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