Upon Looking Further at the Gov. Site I found this.


"Circular 44 CARTOONS AND COMIC STRIPSIN GENERALThe copyright law of the 
United States (title 17 of the UnitedStates Code) provides for copyright 
protection of literary andartistic works. Copyright protection begins 
automatically when awork is first created in a fixed form. Cartoons and 
comic stripsare among the types of works of authorship protected by 
copyright.This protection extends to any copyrightable pictorial or 
writtenexpression contained in the work. This protection does not 
extendto the title or general theme for a cartoon or comic strip or 
tothe general idea or name for the characters depicted. 
Intangibleattributes of characters are not copyrightable, but a 
drawing,picture, or depiction or a written description of a character 
maybe registered for copyright. However, copyright does not extend tothe 
character itself. A character may be protected under aspectsof other 
state, common, or trademark laws. Likewise, titles andnames may 
sometimes be protected under state law doctrines ortrademark laws, but 
such protection is not provided for in the copyright statute. Consult an 
attorney for details."- U.S. Copyright office Circ. 44

I think I have to read it again...

This protection does not extendto the title or general theme for a 
cartoon or comic strip or tothe general idea or name for the characters 
depicted.

Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling...

--John


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