Cartoonist & Lawyer Stu Rees

Products of the Mind: A Conversation About the Intersection of Business + Creativity

Welcome to Episode 48 of Products of the Mind. On this episode, I speak with cartoonist, lawyer, and advocate Stu Rees.

“Everyone knows in their heart of hearts that they shouldn’t, but they use the words ‘fair use’ as a defense in their own mind.”

This episode further explores copyright law and fair use issues with lawyer and cartoonist Stu Rees.

As a practicing lawyer and professional cartoonist, Stu has much to say on the issue of copyright law, fair use, and artists’ rights. Stu began his legal career investigating the contracts between newspaper cartoonists and major print syndicates, and his passion for protecting up-and-coming artists’ rights is stronger than ever.

We talk about copyright law and fair use as it applies to cartoonists and artists in general. We even do a little bit of “fair use roleplay” while we discuss the use of online images. Like previous entrepreneurial guests, Stu basically created his own path by “filling a void” that was needed in the marketplace, so he’ll fill us in on that journey as well.

We also talk about: length of copyright; public domain; Disney’s copyright protection of Mickey Mouse; copyright law and digital media; and whether or not copyright protects the needs of up-and-coming artists.

• Stu’s legal website
• Stu’s cartoon website

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The Credits

Products of the Mind is produced by Mana Monzavi.

The illustration accompanying these show notes is by Whit Harris.

The theme music for this episode was provided by Le Chateau. The track name is “Bury You.” Go buy it on Soundcloud!

This episode and these show notes © 2016 David Lizerbram