Sunday Mailbag: Alfred Copyright?

Q: I was wondering if there is permission needed from Mad Magazine or the artist for people to use the picture of the character Alfred E. Neuman.

A: If by “picture” you mean this picture:

…or any other image of Alfred that was done for MAD then yes, unless you were using the image for something that would qualify as “fair use” you’d need permission in order not to be infringing on MAD/EC Comics and Warner Bros copyright. You’d have to ask MAD since asking original artist Norman Mingo would be tough, he’s been dead since 1980.

Creating a new piece of art with your own depiction of this character is a little less clear, since MAD did not create the character but adopted him. MAD in fact legally established that the “what, me worry” kid was in the a public domain after they were sued by a woman named Helen Pratt Stuff for the use of the boy’s image, claiming her late husband had created and copyrighted the image in 1914 as part of a postcard not seen in print since 1920. Stuff had renewed the copyright in 1941, and she had successfully sued several other people who she claimed infringed on the work. MAD was able to prove in Federal Appellate Court that Stuff had both failed to protect the copyright by not contesting every known use of the image, and that the image had been in use by others prior to the filing of the copyright in 1914. All previous copyrights were invalidated by the courts. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling.

Thanks to L.S. for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!