I never thought I’d actually witness this in my own lifetime, but one of the greatest icons of the twentieth century has finally fallen into the public domain. Or at least it has in Europe. As of the first of January, anyone who wishes can use the Popeye character, create new variations, publish the results and make money off of it without having to ask permission or pay royalties. In other words, Olive is from now on going to have to share her man with the rest of the world.
That’s because copyrights in the EU are only valid for seventy years after the death of the author. It used to be 70 years in the US as well, but companies such as Disney have successfully lobbied for longer terms. So currently, copyrights in the United States are protected for 95 years after death. But even that is probably not enough for Disney and they are most likely doing everything they can to prolong it even further. The prospect of Mickey Mouse falling into the public domain could mean a huge potential loss in profits for them. Disney is still safe for now, but they will be looking closely as to what happens to Popeye.

And coming back to Popeye: while his character may be in the public domain, the use of Popeye still remains a legal mess. That’s because the Popeye trademarks are still enforced. While copyrights protect bodies of creative work (e.g. books, paintings, music, comics), trademarks protect brands (e.g. company & product names, logos, colors) so that they can be perceived by the public as distinct identities within the marketplace.
It means that it is ok to print Popeye on a t-shirt, but not on a can of spinach, That’s because the latter has already been registered. With the amount of merchandizing that has happened in the past around the Popeye brand, it, may not be easy to find out what can pass and what could get you into legal trouble.

To make matters more complicated, the distinction between copyright and trademark is also quite confusing in this case. Popeye can interchangeably be used as a creative work or as a trademark. As I understand it, if you were to decorate cars for money with Popeye figures, it would probably fall under the copyright law. If you were to do the exact same thing, but go one step further and market these vehicles as Popeye Cars, it would be considered a trademark. But the line of distinction between both cases is so thin, it’s open to interpretation. Slippery ice if you ask me. Companies such as Disney can afford an army of lawyers and use Blutos tactics to get their way. If you do find yourself in such a situation, having a can of spinach at hand might not be such a bad idea.