Hope you got your comfy shoes on today, we’ve got some travellin’ to do.

• From the muck and mire known as copyright law, a musing on the Shepard Fairey case and the extent of Fair Use from Leah Riley; in a previous stage of life, Leah was one of the movers-slash-shakers at Lulu, and thus had plenty of context to consider the various interests that must be balanced as we consider who owns what ideas (and what expressions of those ideas). As she asks about the current state of copyright (vis à vis large institutions vs individuals):
  

  Has copyright law changed substantially?
  Has the attitude of businesses towards artists changed?
  Has the public’s attitude towards artist’s rights changed?

  Also a nice reading list for you about the state of copyright and Fair Use. Creators, take note.

• From the far side of the Pacific Ocean, an interview with Rumiko Takahashi, the woman with probably more eyeballs on her comics over the last thirty years or so than anybody else currently alive. Seriously, every ongoing story that she’s thought up — Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, Inu Yasha — has run in print for five or ten years, spawned multi-year TV series, and original films (five or six for UY, if my memory serves me correctly).

  The proximate cause of this interview is the publication of the first print collection of her latest series, Rin-Ne, which is released online for free (and in print simultaneously in English and Japanese). As a twenty-year fan of Takahashi’s work, not having to wait years for translated versions to become available is pretty awesome … and as much as I’m enjoying Rin-Ne online, the reader is a it clunky, and the first eight chapters (to be found in print volume 1, released two days ago) are now pulled.

  Interesting model, treating the online much like the phonebook-sized manga anthologies that release weekly in Japan, but are seen as a disposable means of driving readers to the collections. It’s pretty unlikely that this model could work for anybody with less of a built-in audience, though it doesn’t hurt that a weekly “update” of Rin-Ne is actually a full chapter of 18 – 24 pages, often with the first 4 – 6 in color.

  I’m also thinking that at some point, the archive may become deep enough that it’s impractical for a new reader to collect all the in-print volumes and get caught up on all the backstory, but one thing that Takahashi is very good at is providing frequent jumping-on points for new readers (something most American comics authors don’t have so good a handle on — remember, every issue/update/arc is somebody’s first introduction to your story and needs to allow new readers an easy entry).

• From the depths of Europe, an email:
  

  Hi! This is Eugen, from Fredo & Pid’jin. It’s a humor webcomic about two white pigeons on a mission to bring The End. You may not have heard about us, but we’re huge in Romania, which almost means something.

  Not just big in Romania, but also apparently sponsored by the local branch of Adobe, so that’s something right there. It’s easy to read, in that creators Eugen Erhan and Tudor Muscalu have a way with languge and cultural references that aren’t readily distinguishable from any random Americans in the youthful demographic. If you’re of the mindset that Romanian creators should provide a distinctly Romanian sensibility and cultural perspective, you’re outta luck; Fredo & Pid’jin reads like Pinky And The Brain Minus Pinky With Another The Brain and it’s real easy to believe it was put together by creators born & raised in North America.

  I don’t get the feeling that Erhan and Muscalu feel that they have to work with an American voice to gain an audience; the smartassery and humor are too unforced and the rhythms of the gags too natural. Grab a random strip (here’s one, and another, and another) and you’re likely to find something absurdly, rudely funny. Not groundbreaking, but it is an accomplished presentation of a familiar artform from an unexpected quarter. That’s gotta mean more than just something.