Who Comic Blog to close

Big shame here - the Who Comic blog, run by James, is being forced to close down due to copyright problems, see here. It's a big shame that Who publishers and copyright holders see such blogs such as this a threat, but I guess it's to be expected. I wonder if it is what happened also to the Cuttings Archive, which had such a wealth of Who stuff and is now no more.


I accept that the availability of audio stories, such as those by Big Finish, or the new BBC audio range, online can a serious impact on sales - it's just too easy to download a story - but I don't think online pdfs of comics and graphic novel stories could affect sales in the same way - most Who fans who are really into this stuff will buy it all, religously, as soon as it comes out. Having pdfs is just a useful reference, allowing the originals to be packed away safely. However I do respect artists and photographers who want to protect the copyright on their images, and guess comics fall into this. But should blogs be regarded a breaking copyright? Where would we be if we couldn't use any Who images? New media is all about accessibility to information, sharing and not profiting, and at the same time surely the Who brand gets bigger as a result - including sales.

Most of my posts include images, either by artists or photographers. I work on the basis that their use comes within the 'fair use' principle, and try to acknowledge names and link back to original sources where possible.

But let's face it, the genie is out of the bottle already, and nearly every Who video, DVD, audio, comic or magazine is out there online to download, somewhere.

Anyway, big thanks to James for his blog, and helping me add to my pdf comic collection. Check out the posts here and here for info on the First and Second Doctor stories, with links to James's site for available stories - before they dissapear. I guess I need to do the Third doctor comics quickly!