copyrights

Of course it's possible to get permission to use old characters, if you can track down the copyright holders. In Clampett's case, you'd have to track down his heirs, unless you confined yourself to what he did for Warner Bros., which, being a big corporation, will probably be kind of hard for an individual to deal with.

As for the second question -- I'm not a copyright lawyer, so any advice I could give would be dangerous to follow. I know some people have gotten away with obvious knock-offs of established characters, and some have been sued. At best, you should proceed very carefully, and consult a lawyer.

(My own use of copyrighted and trademarked images is done under the "Fair Use" provision of U.S. copyright law. I confine myself to a single image, or "short quote" as the law puts it, and I do so only for the purpose of illustrating my own copyrighted articles on the topic, which are done as educational works about the subject, as opposed to exploitation of the subject itself. Also, I always include acknowledgment of the copyright holder's proprietary rights. I'm very careful about not infringing on that.)

Quack, Don

It is possible as an individual to deal with a big corporation in copyright matters, but it is time-consuming and expensive.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a book that was in part about adventure comic strips. I contacted (by snail mail or e-mail) King Features, Tribune Media Service and several other copyright holders to see about getting permission to use specific strips as illustrations.

It sometimes took a couple of months, but they did get back to me. The fees they charged ran anywhere from $75 to $150 per strip. Consequentely, my book isn't as well illustrated as it might otherwise have been.

(Of course, I do acknowledge that these various syndicates do have the right to charge me for using stuff they own. It just happened to be a lot of money for me personally. I was hoping my publisher would kick in with some help, but they left getting the illustrations completely up to me.)

So if you contact the copyright holder of the images you want to use, they will eventually get back to you about it.

Well, any time they smell a potential paying customer, the're likely to respond better.

Any chance you'll be sending the resulting book here for review?

Quack, Don

I'd be happy to send you one if I could. Of the 10 free copies I got, I had to send 7 of them to various copyright holders of the images I used. That left two for me and one for my parents. I'm clean out of copies.

The title is "Storytelling in the Pulps, Comics and Radio: How Technology Changed Popular Fiction in America." You can at least see what the cover looks like at my publisher's web site: mcfarlandpub.com

I tried looking for kale21's book through my local library system's on line catalog, Border's, and, even eBay. No luck. But I did find it on Amazon for from  $30 at the Amazon Marketplace, and, for $35, from Amazon itself.

Unfortunately, while I wouldn't mind browsing through kale21's book, I'm not about to at $30, from what seem to be a scholarly book, than a book for entertainment. Sorry kale21.

(Obviously I've seen your name kale, but, I'm not using here, 'cause I figured if you wanted to give it out here, you would've included it when you mentioned your book.)

Thanks for looking anyways.

A lot of libraries have interlibrary loan systems in place, so you could probably use your local library to borrow a copy from somewhere else.

Kale,

please forgive my clumsy phrasing in my earlier reply. When I check my local library system's catalog on line, inter-library loans is what I'm researching. And, like I said, my library system doesn't have your book.
Now there are a couple larger library systems that have limited association with my library system, and, a couple of colleges, as well. I didn't check them. But since the book doesn't appear to be meant for entertainment, I probably won't explore further.

I got nosy and looked up your profile, then checked your home state for my book.

Sure enough, it's only in college and university libraries in your state. Curses, foiled again.

My book, actually, is written in a conversational and (I hope) entertaining style. It's aimed for fans of pulps, comics and/or old-time radio.

But, since it is sold mostly to libraries and schools, it is priced awful high.

If your public library is like most nowadays, they probably have a quick, easy on-line method for requesting they purchase particular books. (hint, hint)

I just might do that-see if I can get your book from an "associated" college library, since you say it is meant to entertain, as well as to educate. Your intended audience, people who appreciate comic books/strips, and, old time radio, hits me "where I live," especially since I also have an interest in the old "Saturday Morning Serials" as well.