"Richie Bush" parody comics seized

[Khephra]

MORE ON THE CUSTOMS COMIC BOOK SEIZURE

Writing for the Charleston City Paper, Jason Zwiker reported on the recent seizure of the Stripburger anthology by US Customs. While no new developments were reported (and as of press time, there has been no new action in the case, according to the CBLDF), Zwiker’s article does quote Richie Bush creator Peter Kuper as saying that his comic “Is a clear case of parody both of the Harvey comics characters and the current administration. I have never earned a dime from this parody and in fact had a number of out-of-pocket expenses. The purpose of this parody was to cast a light on the Bush administration’s policies and have a hearty laugh along the way. Lord knows, in times like these we could all use a good laugh.”

Zwiker also checks in with Charleston attorney Edward Fenno, who points out aspects of the case in regards to parody and fair use. Fenno is quoted as saying: “to be a protected against a copyright infringement claim, the author of a parody should at least loosely target the original (in this instance the Richie Rich comics) not just provide commentary on some other social issue by using the style and creativity of the original.”

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[Kolesar]

1. Kuper used to work as an inker on the original Ritchie Rich series

It was his first professional art job in 1978.