Marc H.
Greenberg
Comic art, creativity and the law
Edward
Elgar (series: Elgar Law and Entrepreneurship),
Cheltenham, UK, 2014, xix, 199 pp.
ISBN:
9781781954928
The creation of works of comic
art, including graphic novels, comic books, cartoons and comic strips, and
political cartoons, is affected, and at times limited, by a diverse array of
laws, ranging from copyright law to free speech laws. This book examines how
this intersection affects the creative process, and proposes approaches that
encourage, rather than limit, that process in the comic art genre. Attention to
the role comic art occupies in popular culture, and how the law responds to
that role, is also analyzed.
Contents
The
neuroscience of creativity
— How law
views the creative process
— A brief
history of comic art
— The
structure and common modes for comic art
— Uneasy
bedfellows : comic art creators and publishers : how comic art publishing
contracts shape the creation of comic art
— Copyright
law’s impact on the creative process in comic art
— A short
comment on derivative works, fan art and fiction
— The power
to tax and the First Amendment : Mavrides v. Board of Equalization
— Censoring
creativity, the Comics Code Authority and the birth of the Comic Book Legal
Defense Fund
— Obscenity
law and the First Amendment : CBLDF to the defense
— The
bigger picture : obscenity, the First Amendment and the moral education of the
young
— Comic art
and the law in the international marketplace
— Comic
art, law and the digital revolution
— Concluding remarks.
Marc
H. Greenberg, professor of law, Golden Gate University School of
Law, USA.
