DCML Digest, Vol 6, Issue 54

[kimba1962@comcast.net]

Joe Torcivia wrote re the "change of license" of the Disney newspaper strips:

> If the contents of a strip has already been reformatted for comic book 
> publication, is that version eligible because it HAS been published as a 
comic book 
> story?  Or, is it ineligible because of its comic strip origins?

If the "ban" is on ALL material that originally appeared in the newspaper, 
then I'm thinking that even a reformatted strip story would be ineligible.    

> Can the Dick Moores/Bill Wright serialized version of "MM Outwits the 
Phantom 
> Blot" created for 1950s issues of WDC&S be used?  It is legitimately comic 
> BOOK art, though adapted from a comic strip.  

If it was created specifically for a comic BOOK, then it probably could be 
used.  (Anyone in Timonium want to float a "trial balloon" by suggesting 
reprinting one of the re-do's?  I figure it's worth the effort; the worst 
Disney can do is say "no.")

> An afterthought:  Steve Geppi was quoted early on to be considering a set of 
> WDC&S archives, at least for the earliest issues.  How would the exclusion 
of 
> all strip material affect such a project?  

We may be in "special permission" territory here, a la Disney allowing Barks 
and Gottfredson to do paintings based on their work.  Since an archival 
project is not quite the same as a monthly comic book, Geppi may be able to 
get Disney to green-light this "history-themed" project.  Of course, Disney is 
more rigid on such things than it used to be...

Personally, I think the main reason Disney imposed its "ban" is that it still 
wants to do some non-comics marketing of the "Classic Mickey" imagery, as it 
did with the short-lived "The Perils of Mickey" line a few years ago.  In 
order to get back the rights to reprint strips, might Gemstone have to 
negotiate with folks who manufacture beach towels and T-shirts?

Chris Barat