Commons:Character copyrights

Per COM:CHARACTER, all appearances of a character are covered by copyright so long as the character's first appearance is still protected by copyright, even if those appearances are in otherwise public domain works. Future appearances will give rise to their own copyrights. The following table gives the copyright information for various popular characters:

Wikimedia Commons and its servers are located in the United States and follow American copyright length, as well as the country of origin. If a work is public domain in both countries, it may be uploaded.

Green background colors indicates that a character is in public domain while flaxen colors indicates unclear copyright status (unclear for us, as of February 2024).

Literature Origin

Character	First appearance	Source country	Expiration	Notes	Original author/copyright owner	Renewal (if applicable)
Pinocchio	Giornale per i bambini (1881-1882), The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883)	Italy	1920	The original character was never copyrighted in the United States. The Disney version is copyrighted until 2036.	Carlo Collodi (d. 1890)
Zorro	The Curse of Capistrano (1919)	United States	1995	Often has issues with trademarks
Cthulhu	"The Call of Cthulhu" (1928)	United States		Despite several claims to the contrary, there is currently no evidence that any company or individual owns the copyright to any of Lovecraft's works, and it is generally accepted that it has passed into the public domain. Lovecraft himself was extremely generous with his own works, and actively encouraged others to borrow ideas from his stories, particularly with regard to his Cthulhu Mythos. Many of the writers Lovecraft collaborated with lived on much later into the 20th century, e.g. Clark Ashton Smith (d. 1961), August Derleth (d. 1971), Robert Bloch (d. 1994) etc. Certain elements of the Mythos are theirs, or have been created by other still-living authors. What these writers created in the Mythos won't enter the public domain until later on, unless their creations are already in public domain if the copyrights to the stories weren't renewed.	H. P. Lovecraft (d. 1937)
Sherlock Holmes	A Study in Scarlet (1887)	United Kingdom	2000 (UK)	In the US, the character was never copyrighted, but the final Arthur Conan Doyle story entered the public domain in 2023.	Arthur Conan Doyle (d. 1930)	None
Winnie-the-Pooh and related characters	Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)	United Kingdom/United States	2047 (UK) / 2022 (US)	Some Pooh works were simultaneously published in the United States so they're public domain for our purposes. Disney's character designs are still under copyright until the 2060s.	A. A. Milne (d. 1956) and E.H. Shepherd (d. 1976)	Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) RE0000636587 Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) RE0000718378 Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) RE0000869560 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) RE0000903184
Sam Spade	The Black Mask (1929)	United States	2025	The Maltese Falcon was initially serialized in The Black Mask Later printed in full as The Maltese Falcon (1930) In Warner Bros. Pictures v. Columbia Broadcasting System the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the character of Sam Spade was ineligible for copyright because "if the character is only the chessman in the game of telling the story he is not within the area of the protection afforded by the copyright" and that Sam Spade and other "characters were vehicles for the story told".	Dashiell Hammett (d. 1961)	R179950-R179952 and R202664-202665 for the serial R205663 for 1930 novel
Conan the Barbarian	Weird Tales (1932)	United States	2028	Conan appeared in "The Phoenix on the Sword" in 1932, he also appeared earlier the same year in "People of the Dark", neither story had their copyrights renewed.	Robert E. Howard (d. 1936)
Nancy Drew	The Secret of the Old Clock (1930)	United States	2026	Later re-written in 1959; which has its own copyright	Mildred Benson (d. 2002) under pseudonym Carolyn Keene Russell H. Tandy (d. 1963) for illustrations	R197875
Tsathoggua	Weird Tales (1931)	United States	2027	Part of the Hyperborean cycle and the Cthulhu Mythos. Originally created by Clark Ashton Smith for the story "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros", but appeared in stories by his friends Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft before his story was published ("The Children of the Night" and "The Whisperer in Darkness" respectively)	Clark Ashton Smith (d. 1961)	R230427 for the issue of Weird Tales with "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros"
Babar the Elephant	The Story of Babar (1931)	France	2027 (US)/2008 (France)	The first Babar book was published in France in 1931, and in the United States in 1933.	Jean de Brunhoff (d. 1937) Be careful not to use illustrations by his son, Laurent de Brunhoff, who took over his father's series and died in 2024.	R265890 for The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant
Mary Poppins	Mary Poppins (1934)	United Kingdom/United States	2030 (US)/2067 (UK)	The first Poppins book was published simultaneously in the United States The Mary Poppins character, in a much less defined way, first appeared in a 1926 short story Mary Poppins And the Match-Man that was published in New Zealand's The Sun	P. L. Travers (d. 1996)	R292340 for the first book
Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler	Gone with the Wind (1936)	United States	2032	The film from 1939 will be public domain in 2035	Margaret Mitchell (d. 1949)	R318689-318690 for the 1936 novel R399224 for the 1939 film
The Thing (from another world)	Who Goes There? (1938)	United States	2034	First published in Astounding Science Fiction in the August 1938 edition	John W. Campbell (d. 1971)	R365826 for the August 1938 edition
Madam Mim	The Sword in the Stone (1938)	United Kingdom	2035 (UK/US)	First published in the United States in 1939	T. H. White (d. 1964)	R377500
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer	Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1939)	United States	2035	The 1964 television special is in the public domain due to an improper copyright notice. However the special is restricted as a derivative work of the original character, song, and other copyrighted elements present Sound recordings of the 1949 song will not enter the public domain until 2060	Robert L. May (d. 1976)	R404750 for the 1939 book R639542 for the 1949 song
Horton the Elephant	Horton Hatches the Egg (1940)	United States	2036		"Dr. Seuss" (d. 1991)	R428772
Thomas the Tank Engine	Thomas the Tank Engine (1946)	United Kingdom	2042 (US) / 2068 (UK)		Wilbert Awdry (d. 1997)
Mike Hammer	I, the Jury (1947)	United States	2043		Mickey Spillane (d. 2006)	R608341
Bilbo Baggins	The Hobbit (1937)	United Kingdom	2034 (US) / 2044 (UK)	Houghton Mifflin published the first American edition of The Hobbit in spring of 1938	J. R. R. Tolkien (d. 1973)	Copyright was restored under Uruguay Round Agreements Act
Winston Smith	Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)	United Kingdom	2045 (US) / 2021 (UK)		George Orwell (d. 1950)	R641953
Aslan	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)	United Kingdom	2046 (US) / 2034 (UK)		C. S. Lewis (d. 1963)	Copyright restored under the URAA
Hercule Poirot	The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)	United Kingdom	2047 (UK) / 1976 (US)		Agatha Christie (d. 1976)
Miss Marple	The Royal Magazine (1927)	United Kingdom	2047 (UK) / 2023 (US)	First novel was The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)	Agatha Christie (d. 1976)	R209544 for 1930 book
Guy Montag	Fahrenheit 451 (1953)	United States	2049		Ray Bradbury (d. 2012)	RE0000105689
James Bond	Casino Royale (1953)	United Kingdom	2049 (US) / 2035 (UK)	Simultatenously published in the US and UK Later film rights under separate copyrights	Ian Fleming (d. 1964)	RE0000108490 for the 1953 book
Norman Bates	Psycho (1959)	United States	2055	The Hitchcock film is separately copyrighted until 2056	Robert Bloch (d. 1994)	RE0000319609 for the book RE0000400889 for the 1960 film

Animation Origin

Character	First appearance	Source country	Expiration	Notes	Original author/copyright owner	Renewal (if applicable)
Tweety	A Tale of Two Kitties (1942)	United States	1970	Known as "Orson" in his first appearance, and first named Tweety in his second appearance, Birdy and the Beast. Later character design first used in Tweetie Pie is still copyrighted.	Bob Clampett (d. 1984)	No known renewal for the first short. R524619 for Birdy and the Beast
Colonel Montgomery J. Klaxon and Calvin T. Burnside	"The Television Job" (Calvin and the Colonel; 1961)	United States	1990	An animated remake of Amos 'n' Andy		None
Felix the Cat	Feline Follies (1919)	United States	1995
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit	Trolley Troubles (1927)	United States	2023	Later redesigns by Manuel Moreno may still be copyrighted. Original copyright for Trolley Troubles ended in 1955 when the copyright was not renewed.	Walt Disney (d. 1966) Ub Iwerks (d. 1971)
Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse	Steamboat Willie (1928)	United States	2024	Later redesigns are still copyrighted, see here and here for lists of designs by year. Note however that the lists are only comprised of animation and comic strip art, not posters or anything else where a design would have been shown first.	Walt Disney (d. 1966) Ub Iwerks (d. 1971)
Bosko	Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid (1929), Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930)	United States	2026	Bosko was the first Looney Tunes character. Bosko first appeared in Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid, a test film which wasn't released in theaters. In 1933, Harman and Ising left Warner Bros., taking the rights to the Bosko characters with them. However, Warner Bros. retained the rights to the cartoons. None of the copyrights to any of Bosko's works through 1931 seem to have been renewed.	Hugh Harman (d. 1982) Rudolf Ising (d. 1992)
Casper the Friendly Ghost	The Friendly Ghost (1945)	United States	2041	The character was originally created for a children's book that went unpublished. The short film he was introduced in did not have its copyright renewed.	Seymour Reit (d. 2001) Joe Oriolo (d. 1985)
Betty Boop	Dizzy Dishes (1930)	United States	2026	Some later shorts not renewed		R198400
Pluto	The Chain Gang (1930)	United States	2027	First named as Rover in The Picnic (1930) First named as Pluto in The Moose Hunt (1931)	Walt Disney (d. 1966) Norm Ferguson (d. 1957)	R204524 for The Chain Gang R204528 for The Picnic R225455 for The Moose Hunt
Buddy (Looney Tunes)	Buddy's Day Out, Buddy's Beer Garden (both 1933)	United States	2029	Later appeared on Animaniacs.	Tom Palmer (d. 1972)
Donald Duck	The Wise Little Hen (1934)	United States	2030	A different Donald Duck appeared in The Adventures of Mickey Mouse (1931).	Walt Disney (d. 1966) Dick Lundy (d. 1990)	R27781 for The Wise Little Hen R225437 for The Adventures of Mickey Mouse
Goofy	Orphan's Benefit (1934)	United States	2030	First appeared as Dippy Dawg in Mickey's Revue (1932)	Walt Disney (d. 1966) Pinto Colvig (d. 1967)	R281004 for Orphans' Benefit R237770 for Mickey's Revue
Porky Pig	I Haven't Got a Hat (1935)	United States	2031	Some later shorts not renewed	Friz Freleng (d. 1995)	R311533
Daffy Duck	Porky's Duck Hunt (1937)	United States	2033	Some later shorts not renewed	Tex Avery (d. 1980) Bob Clampett (d. 1984)	R363524
Bugs Bunny	A Wild Hare (1940)	United States	2036	Appeared in three earlier prototype versions Several cartoons failed to have their copyrights renewed.	Complex, had several fathers	R434265
Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse	Puss Gets the Boot (1940)	United States	2036	Not named until The Midnight Snack (1941)	William Hanna (d. 2001) Joseph Barbera (d. 2006)	R404444 for Puss Gets the Boot R439708 for The Midnight Snack
Woody Woodpecker	Knock Knock (1940)	United States	2036		Walter Lantz (d. 1994) Ben Hardaway (d. 1957)	R423773
Daisy Duck	Mr. Duck Steps Out (1940)	United States	2033	A prototype version called Donna Duck appeared in 1937 in the film Don Donald	Carl Barks (d. 2000)	R329715 for Don Donald R411801 for Mr. Duck Steps Out
Dumbo	Dumbo (1941)	United States	2037	The original book from 1939 is not known to be extant, and its publication is dubious	Helen Aberson-Mayer (d. 1999) Harold Pearl (d. 1975)	R442538 for the 1941 film
Mighty Mouse	Mouse of Tomorrow (1942)	United States	2038		Paul Terry (d. 1971) Isadore Klein (d. 1986)	R471862
Droopy	Dumb-Hounded (1943)	United States	2039		Tex Avery (d. 1980)	R480799
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner	Fast and Furry-ous (1949)	United States	2045		Chuck Jones (d. 2002) Michael Maltese (d. 1981)	R627299
Fred Flintstone, Wilma Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Betty Rubble	"The Flintstone Flyer" (The Flintstones; 1960)	United States	2056	Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble were first introduced in episodes from Seasons Two and Three during 1963 and will enter the public domain in 2059	William Hanna (d. 2001) Joseph Barbera (d. 2006)	RE0000396998 for The Flintstone Flyer (1960) RE0000555065 for The Blessed Event (1963) RE0000547359 for Little Bamm-Bamm (1963)

Comic Origin

Character	First appearance	Source country	Expiration	Notes	Original author/copyright owner	Renewal (if applicable)
Captain Marvel (Fawcett Comics), Shazam, Doctor Sivana	Whiz Comics #2 (1940)	United States	1968	Several issues of Whiz Comics didn't have their copyrights renewed. Later depictions of the characters, as published by Fawcett and DC, have separate copyrights	Bill Parker (d. 1963) C. C. Beck (d. 1989)
Plastic Man	Police Comics #1 (1941)	United States	1969	Later editions and usages still subject to copyright	Jack Cole (d. 1958)	No renewal
Blackhawk	Military Comics #1 (1941)	United States	1969	Not renewed	Chuck Cuidera (d. 2001) Bob Powell (d. 1967) Will Eisner (d. 2005)
Garfield	Jon (1976)	United States	1976	The original Jon and Garfield strips were published in the Pendleton Times from 1976 to 1978. Neither the strips nor the newspaper in which they were published included any copyright notice. The Garfield comic strip began including copyright notices only once picked up for syndication in 1978. The appearance of Garfield in Jon and in the 1977–78 strips differs from his appearance in more recent strips. New material from the later series is separately copyrighted.	Jim Davis (currently living)
Buck Rogers	Buck Rogers comic strip (1929)	United States	2025	Buck Rogers is based on Anthony Rogers from Armageddon 2419 A.D. (1928), a work that was not renewed. Many now iconic parts of Buck Rogers are later additions to the character. For example, Buck Rogers first ventured into space in January 1930.	Philip Francis Nowlan (d. 1940)
Namor	Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1, Marvel Comics #1 (both 1939)	United States	2035	The character appeared in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, likely first published before Marvel Comics; the former doesn't seem to have had its copyright renewed.	Bill Everett (d. 1973)
Popeye	Thimble Theatre (1929)	United States	2025	Several of Paramount's cartoons did not have their copyrights renewed.	E. C. Segar (d. 1938)	R164887
Dick Tracy	Dick Tracy comic strip (1931)	United States	2027		Chester Gould (d. 1985)
Nancy Ritz	Fritzi Ritz comic strip (January 2, 1933)	United States	2029		Ernie Bushmiller (d. 1982)
Flash Gordon	Flash Gordon comic strip (1934)	United States	2030		Alex Raymond (d. 1956)
Li'l Abner	Li'l Abner comic strip (1934)	United States	2030		Al Capp (d. 1979)
Snuffy Smith	Barney Google comic strip (November 17, 1934)	United States	2030		Billy DeBeck (d. 1942) Fred Lasswell (d. 2001)
Mandrake the Magician	Mandrake the Magician comic strip (1934)	United States	2030		Lee Falk (d. 1999)
The Phantom	The Phantom comic strip (1936)	United States	2032		Lee Falk (d. 1999)
Prince Valiant	Prince Valiant comic (1937)	United States	2033		Hal Foster (d. 1982)
Huey, Dewey, and Louie	Donald Duck comic strip (October 17, 1937)	United States	2033	First appeared in animation in Donald's Nephews (1938)	Ted Osborne (d. 1968) Al Taliaferro (d. 1969)	R354206 for comic R361885 for animated short
The Addams Family	The New Yorker cartoon (6 August, 1938)	United States	2034	The family members wouldn't get names until later on.	Charles Addams (d. 1988)	R366101 for the August 6, 1938 edition of The New Yorker
Superman	Action Comics #1 (1938)	United States	2034	The Paramount cartoons did not have their copyrights renewed.	Jerry Siegel (d. 1996) Joe Shuster (d. 1992)	R362187
Batman	Detective Comics #27 (1939)	United States	2035		Bob Kane (d. 1998) Bill Finger (d. 1974)	R383871
The Phantom Blot	Mickey Mouse comic strip (May 22, 1939)	United States	2035		Floyd Gottfredson (d. 1986) Merrill De Maris (d. 1948)
Robin	Detective Comics #38 (1940)	United States	2036	For the Dick Grayson version; later versions had separate copyrights	Bob Kane (d. 1998) Bill Finger (d. 1974) Jerry Robinson (d. 2011)	R415982
The Spirit	"The Origin of The Spirit" (June 2, 1940)	United States	2036		Will Eisner (d. 2005)
The Flash	Flash Comics #1 (1940)	United States	2036	Jay Garrick version is from 1940 Later versions like Barry Allen and Wally West debuted in 1956 and 1959, respectively; West first became The Flash in 1986 before he was Kid Flash	Gardner Fox (d. 1986) Harry Lampert (d. 2004)	R412577 for the 1940 comic
Green Lantern	All-American Comics #16 (1940)	United States	2036	Alan Scott is the version from 1940 Later versions like Hal Jordan and John Stewart debuted in 1959 and 1971, respectively	Martin Nodell (d. 2006) Bill Finger (d. 1974)	R421919 for the 1940 comic
Captain America	Captain America Comics #1 (1941)	United States	2036	While the comic was cover dated for 1941, it was copyrighted in December, 1940	Joe Simon (d. 2011) Jack Kirby (d. 1994)	R429502
Archie Andrews	Pep Comics #22 (1941)	United States	2037	Archie was inspired by Andy Hardy, who first appeared in the play Skidding (1928), a work that is now in public domain.	John L. Goldwater (d. 1999) Bob Montana (d. 1975) Vic Bloom (d. 1983)
Wonder Woman	All Star Comics #8 (1941)	United States	2037		William Moulton Marston (d. 1947) H. G. Peter (d. 1958)	R457919
Aquaman	More Fun Comics #73 (1941)	United States	2037		Mort Weisinger (d. 1978) Paul Norris (d. 2007)	R461009
Green Arrow	More Fun Comics #73 (1941)	United States	2037		Mort Weisinger (d. 1978) George Papp (d. 1989)	R461009
Pogo	Animal Comics #1 (1941)	United States	2037	The character would get a new design in 1948 when he got a comic strip.	Walt Kelly (d. 1973)
Scrooge McDuck	Christmas on Bear Mountain (1947)	United States	2043		Carl Barks (d. 2000)	R592670
Iron Man (Canadian comics)	Better Comics #1 (1941)	Canada	2045 (Canada) / 2037 (US)	The first Canadian superhero.	Vernon Miller (d. 1974)
Nelvana of the Northern Lights	Triumph-Adventure Comics #1 (1941)	Canada	2045 (Canada) / 2037 (US)	The first Canadian national superhero.	Adrian Dingle (d. 1974)
Beetle Bailey	Beetle Bailey (1950)	United States	2046		Mort Walker (d. 2018)
Charlie Brown	Peanuts (1950)	United States	2046		Charles M. Schulz (d. 2000)
Tintin	Le Petit Vingtième, strip (1929) Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, book (1930)	Belgium	2054 (Belgium/France) / 2025 (US)	The first American release of the series was by Golden Press in 1959.	Hergé (d. 1983)	Copyrights of French works restored by Uruguay Round Agreements Act

Radio/Sound Origin

Character	First appearance	Source country	Expiration	Notes	Original author/copyright owner	Renewal (if applicable)
The Shadow	Detective Story Hour (July 31, 1930)	United States	2027	First appeared on radio as a storyteller with a creepy voice and laugh, later became a full-fledged character in pulp fiction.	Walter B. Gibson (d. 1985)
Gerald McBoing-Boing	Gerald McBoing-Boing, children's record (1950)	United States	2046		"Dr. Seuss" (d. 1991)
Alvin and the Chipmunks	The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) (1958)	United States	2054		Ross Bagdasarian (d. 1972)