What is common between the legendary Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi and the creator of the iconic cartoon character Popeye the Sailor? All the copyright material related to them would end on January 1, 2009 when these fall into the public domain.
The statutory law restricts the rights of authors to 60/70 years after their death. The copyright expiry means that, from Thursday, anyone can print and sell Gandhi or Popeye posters, T-shirts and even create new comic strips, books without the need for authorisation or to make royalty payments.
The Times of London reports: “Elzie Segar, the Illinois artist who created Popeye, his love interest Olive Oyl and nemesis Bluto, died in 1938. The Popeye industry stretches from books, toys and action figures to computer games, a fast-food chain and the inevitable canned spinach.” More here…
The Times of India reports: “Unfazed by the likelihood of publishers picking up Gandhiji’s works for a profit, Managing Trustee of the Navajivan Trust, the custodian of Gandhiji’s writings, Jitendra Desai reasons: ‘Even in profiteering, they would propagate Gandhian thought’.
“Mahatma Gandhi died on January 30, 1948. Since 1919 the Navajivan Trust has published over 300 volumes of Gandhi’s articles, letters, speeches and translations of his autobiography.” More here…
Not many know that Mahatma Gandhi was a prolific writer and a journalist for decades. See here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.