Popeye may look happy now but it won't last. As this article explains, his copyright is expiring…though not in the United States. His trademark is not expiring…just the copyright on Elzie Segar's original creation. Not being an intellectual property lawyer, I won't attempt to explain precisely what the difference means except that there will be a big gray area.
It will be possible for overseas publishers to do certain things with the one-eyed sailor that they could not do before…not without making a deal with King Features Syndicate, which has long controlled the rights to the spinach-guzzler. There will also be things that cannot be done as they would constitute infringement on the trademark. In-between is that gray area, which I imagine will generate loads of billable hours for the King Features lawyers.
I dunno what this will mean for the creative health and legacy for this great character. Over the years, King Features has okayed a number of pretty awful Popeye products and comics…but there have been some good ones. I imagine someone out there will do something wonderful with Mr. Segar's sailor while others will put out crappy merchandise and reprints…and we'll probably see (or have to avoid seeing) some Popeye porn. I know some folks out there think Public Domain for something like this is nirvana but I have a bad feeling about it.
In the meantime, if you'd like to see Popeye at his absolute best, buy the new Fantagraphics volumes. They're reprinting Segar's work in handsome, well-crafted volumes. Here's a link to their latest release. It doesn't get any better than this.