European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 06, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ulily Magazine cartoons Are big business by Carol Cleaveland the Allentown morning Calla Hention shoppers the following items Hanks to the comics Industry s expanded nucleus of marketing devices Are now available at local department stores in the United slates and even abroad Garreld balloons greeting to is and Panama tops Garde a Collie tips party napkins alarm clocks . Stuffed toys and stickers Garf eld shirts calendars books House slippers mud flaps for trucks Bookmarks and women s underwear not to mention Garfield on suction cups clinging to car windows we designed those to go on bathroom mirrors and people s picture windows it never occurred to us that people would stick them on car  says Garfield s creator. Jim Davis that brought us a lot of attention and it makes us nervous people Are talking about it too  he says i have a closet full of cartoons that have mentioned this " ii was a marketing strategy that backfired but one of the few such problems Davis has had to worry about on the Way to seeing his funny Orange cat become a pop culture icon this is a Story about comic strips and big business about an Industry where a cartoonist like Davis can draw a cartoon cat and end up with much of the profits from a Maior Pel food Chain s $73 million advertising Campaign. Davis was in Allentown. Recently for the unveiling of Alpo pet foods inc s new line of cat food which is being advertised with commercials featuring Garfield if the comics Section seems Little More than a frivolous Bunch of cartoons and running gags consider what s been happening behind the scenes of the nation s funny pages a decision by Universal press Syndicate to yank its comics from the Dallas times Herald and soil them to the competing Dallas morning news prompted the Herald to file suit against the Syndicate times Herald attorneys argue that by losing such strips As the far Side doonesbury and tank Mcnamara. The newspaper will be at an unfair disadvantage in Dallas newspaper wars Cathy Guisewite. Creator of Cathy. Has hired an attorney to Challenge certain aspects of her contract with Universal press Guisewite declined comment on the dispute but Industry sources say she is charging that her contract violates California s labor Laws which restrict companies from compelling employees to sign contracts of More than seven years in duration Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill comic strip characters like Garfield and snoopy have netted millions of dollars for the comic Industry with the proliferation of stuffed animals stickers and other paraphernalia. A Patterson recently told an audience of students that comics have been cheapened and corrupted by product licensing syndicates Are Only too Happy to sell out the comic for a Quick Buck Watterson said. Family circus creator Bill Keane waged a successful Bailie last year with King features Syndicate for the rights to own his comic and its characters the agreement came 10 years alter the Syndicate he once worked for threatened to bring in another cartoonist to draw family circus if he did t approve the terms of his contract i do know of a couple of situations where certain cartoonists Are demoralized by the fact that the characters they invented 20 or 25 years ago Are owned by the Syndicate and Are not  said Mel Lazarus president of the National cartoonists society their morale has t been helped by the newspaper Industry s decline in recent years cities with two competing dailies Are now few a fact that forces syndicates to scrounge for potential customers Paul g Eberhart assistant director of sales and International sales manager or King features said syndicates Are paid roughly the same fees for most strips the were 10 years ago the Lee newspapers will pay is determined by the paper s size whether it laces stiff Competition from another paper and the slip s popularity. Newspapers can pay anywhere from $10 to $500 weekly to run a comic strip. In the Good old Days when you had two newspaper towns editors would go out and aggressively buy comics hoping that one would catch on and develop a following now they re less eager to take chances on a new strip said Brad Bushell vice president and sales manager Lor the new York based Syndicate United Media artists and syndicates Are at Odds Over the question of who should own the rights to a comic strip and Bushell said artists Are becoming increasingly vocal on the Issue in All but a few cases syndicates today own the rights to each strip and its characters thai Means that United Media s United feature Syndicate owns the rights to Marmaduke not its creator. Brad Anderson cartoonists have traditionally surrendered the rights to their strips when a Syndicate agreed to represent them now some cartoonists Are sorry they did i do not own my creation and i feel that one should in Hal respect i m sure All cartoonists feel the same  said Bob thaves who draws Frank & Ernes have asked for the rights time after time and they have refused they View it As a corporate asset and they probably Don t think they should give it away " syndicates spend from $15,000 to $30,000 to sell a new comic strip Busholl said. That Means they need to be assured that a popular cartoonist won t Stop drawing his strip or take it to a competitor before the Syndicate makes a profit in Many cases cartoonists Are asked to sign contracts of 10 and 20 years said Richard s. Newcombe. Who founded creators Syndicate two years ago. And now serves As its president Newcombe believes thai cartoonists should have the ownership rights to their work and to walk away from working conditions they Don t like it should be voluntary at All limes just like a marriage u the creators Are very unhappy then they should have the right to renegotiate their contract or leave and that was called Radical when i  Newcombe said not All cartoonists would walk away in they had a Chance and Lazarus admits that it might be hard for the Public to sympathize with their angst. The nation s newspaper cartoonists earn from $50.000 to $30 million annually according to Industry analysts the two top moneymakers Are Charles Schultz s peanuts and Davis Garfield. I m doing we i can t complain Davis said ii you have a Good program Good salesmen and Good reputation it really does t Mailer who owns the rights. I am in a very Small minority of cartoonists who is Content with his agreement " so is Anderson who draws Marmaduke Lor United feature Syndicate about 10 years ago. A manufacturer began producing Marmaduke dolls a move that angered Anderson because he had t authorized their Sale the Syndicate s attorneys contacted the manufacturer and distributor they made them pull the toys Oil he Market and destroy them ii it had been me trying to handle this alone they probably would have snowballed  Anderson said yet Eberhart expects that More cartoonists will follow Keane s example and try to wrestle ownership rights away from the syndicates. To the cartoonists who want rights to their work ownership is a question of principle. Saturday january 6, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 13