according to the gutenberg site the book, published in 1900, is not copyrighted:
http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/55
(note the title. It is The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
The book is not in the us copyright office online database (http://www.copyright.gov - only books from after 1978) but looking at the faq the copyright lasted either 28 or 56 years depending on renewal.
Nevertheless there is a trust for the Frank Baum family and they seem to license the illustrations from the book: http://www.oz-central.com/license02.html No idea how that works copyrightwise but I think we should avoid using original pics. Looking at those pics that won\'t be a problem. Our sketches don\'t look a bit like those in the books. We could check with Oz-central.
Do note that Dorothy looks a lot younger in the original illustrations than what the popular image is. I just checked and in the 1939 movie Judy Garland was 16 while playing a 12 year old Dorothy. As to the age of Dorothy, there is some discussion but it seems accepted she was 12 when she came to live in Oz and probably 7 in her first adventure (which pretty much follows the original illustrations).
The movie is from 1939, so the original copyright already expired. But MGM may have renewed it. I don\'t know.
I\'m not a copyright expert but I think we\'re ok when we simply base our design on the story. And that\'s going to be a personal interpretation as I read there is no physical description of Dorothy in the book. Only info is \"Arkansas farm girl living in a pretty drab area\". I just had a quick look at the first chapter of the first book where you usually find descriptions and there is none. So unless there is one in the other books we\'re free to do what we want. Toto is only described \" he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose\".
As to the scene we\'ve sketched: \"But Dorothy they did not harm at all. She stood, with Toto in her arms, watching the sad fate of her comrades and thinking it would soon be her turn. The leader of the Winged Monkeys flew up to her, his long, hairy arms stretched out and his ugly face grinning terribly; but he saw the mark of the Good Witch\'s kiss upon her forehead and stopped short, motioning the others not to touch her.
\"We dare not harm this little girl,\" he said to them, \"for she is protected by the Power of Good, and that is greater than the Power of Evil. All we can do is to carry her to the castle of the Wicked Witch and leave her there.\"
So, carefully and gently, they lifted Dorothy in their arms and carried her swiftly through the air until they came to the castle, where they set her down upon the front doorstep. Then the leader said to the Witch:
\"We have obeyed you as far as we were able. The Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow are destroyed, and the Lion is tied up in your yard. The little girl we dare not harm, nor the dog she carries in her arms. Your power over our band is now ended, and you will never see us again.\"
Nuff info for now I think.
Oh, one more thing. I\'m about to ask around for casting quotations for another project. I\'ll ask about this one as well.
