Bill Watterson was super-against Calvin and Hobbes being used in *any* sort of merchandise other than comic collections, and though he constantly had to fight his publishers tooth and nail to stop them from commercializing the hell out of his strip, he was able to do so successfully. Which means those stickers, as well any shirts or anything else you might see with Calvin on it that’s not a book, is bootleg merchandise. Which in turn means that your general apathy towards sticker-based expression is helping to honor the wishes of a comic legend! I salute your indifference, Adam!
I find those stickers deeply annoying, mostly because of the fact that the image is pirated– Watterson never licenced any Calvin and Hobbes merchendise at all, very much on purpose. Such pointless, petty theft is irritating.
It’s not official, but it’s not illegal, either. Watterson never licensed any merchandise, but he also failed to make declarations that no one else was allowed to make merchandise. When he tried to raise protests, the law pretty much informed him “Sorry, nothing anyone can do about it”. Not theft, so much as just action despite request of inaction.
It is 100% illegal. You retain your intellectual property rights even if you don’t license the IP. You don’t need to make any declarations either. ANY unlicensed/unauthorized use outside of the “fair use” doctrine is illegal. The law can indeed do something about it, the main problem is that the stickers are made by a plethora of fly-by-night operators. https://triviahappy.com/articles/the-tasteless-history-of-the-peeing-calvin-decal
You know, considering I try to avoid reading about these sorts of unpleasant occurrences, I really shouldn’t assume that I’m getting reliable information from finding something and not realizing the direction it’s going before it’s too late.
The bug in the Instagram user’s profile pic is a nice touch. Also, kudos for acknowledging that Mr. Watterson didn’t approve those decals.
Another great strip. I like how you keep the final product hidden to leave it up to viewer’s imagination.
Bill Watterson was super-against Calvin and Hobbes being used in *any* sort of merchandise other than comic collections, and though he constantly had to fight his publishers tooth and nail to stop them from commercializing the hell out of his strip, he was able to do so successfully. Which means those stickers, as well any shirts or anything else you might see with Calvin on it that’s not a book, is bootleg merchandise. Which in turn means that your general apathy towards sticker-based expression is helping to honor the wishes of a comic legend! I salute your indifference, Adam!
I find those stickers deeply annoying, mostly because of the fact that the image is pirated– Watterson never licenced any Calvin and Hobbes merchendise at all, very much on purpose. Such pointless, petty theft is irritating.
It’s not official, but it’s not illegal, either. Watterson never licensed any merchandise, but he also failed to make declarations that no one else was allowed to make merchandise. When he tried to raise protests, the law pretty much informed him “Sorry, nothing anyone can do about it”. Not theft, so much as just action despite request of inaction.
It is 100% illegal. You retain your intellectual property rights even if you don’t license the IP. You don’t need to make any declarations either. ANY unlicensed/unauthorized use outside of the “fair use” doctrine is illegal. The law can indeed do something about it, the main problem is that the stickers are made by a plethora of fly-by-night operators. https://triviahappy.com/articles/the-tasteless-history-of-the-peeing-calvin-decal
You know, considering I try to avoid reading about these sorts of unpleasant occurrences, I really shouldn’t assume that I’m getting reliable information from finding something and not realizing the direction it’s going before it’s too late.
Yes, it would make far more sense for it to be Bart Simpson (at least back when the Simpsons was popular…)
Would the last image be less confusing without you in it? Just Calvin peeing on a gutter full of leaves.
I do find the image of Calvin peeing on a negative comment section funny.
How about Bug peeing on something? Would you add those stickers to the store?