Is Bo Peep a copyrighted character?

[rmarti3926]

I am currently working on a comic book project called "Anything Goes" which I will use to start my own comic book company.

One of the characters I created is named "Bo Peep" based on Little Bo Peep. Is Little Bo Peep a copyright character? If so, how can I ask permission to the owner of the character so I can use her?

[AceOfKnaves]

She would in fact be a copyrighted character, though who actually owns the rights to her would be a puzzle in itself. Using her in a project you plan on selling will create problems if you don't have an agreement with the rights owner, but if you plan on giving away this comic project without any financial profit to yourself, you are in fact permitted to use her. :)


~Selena~

[MonkeyFunk]

No, she's not copyrighted. Most nursery rhymes go back at least as far as the 18th century; I'm not sure how far back this particular rhyme goes, but I checked and found it in a collection of nursery rhymes published in 1913, and anything published before 1923 is now in the public domain.

I've seen her name turn up elsewhere - Toy Story and that Sheep game, for example - so she's obviously free to use.