Tintin Forums

The Iranian director Arvand Dashtarai staged an adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin in Tehran in February.
The play, entitled Tintin and the Secret of Moundas Castle, is now being performed at the Iranian Artists Forum's Iranhshar Hall.

The Iranian dramaturge and dramatist Mohammad Charmshir has written the play based on The Adventures of Tintin. Dashtarai said in an interview, "I've been interested in the Tintin books since I was a little boy. All of his adventures and curiosity have had a great influence on me, and I wanted to pay my debt of gratitude to Hergé."
He also said that Charmshir's play is a new story about Tintin. He wrote it based on the 24 volumes of The Adventures of Tintin.

Interesting! But what about Moulinsart? Did the drama have any problem about license or something with Moulinsart?

tintinsgf
No there has been no problem as far as it is on stage in Iran. Of course I believe if this play were supposed to be performed on international scenes, probably some sort of permission or licensing would be required.

Anyhow, I still wonder if somebody wants to put a Shakespearean play on stage, or write a commentary about Shakespeare's plays somewhere in the world, does he or she require to obtain licence from Shakespeare's descendants?

I think, in the world of art and literature, the rules are a bit different from the world of commerce. As far as proper referencing is made and there is no sign of plagiarism, the work will be OK.

Thanks for your interesting info on this production, tintin1056. Are you planning to go and see it?


To clarify your general thoughts on copyright, the reason you don't need permission from Shakespeare's descendants is basically because he's been dead so long.

The current legal position in the UK (and I think maybe in the EU generally) is that a literary- or artistic-work remains in copyright for seventy years after its creator's death, during which time you would indeed need permission from the late creator's estate to adapt their works.

Assuming that Belgium has a similar copyright law to the UK, and assuming that remains the case for a few decades, Herge's works will come out of copyright and into the Public Domain in 2053.

According to Wikipedia, Iran does have a copyright law giving protection to works for 50 years after a creator's death, but as Iran isn't signed up to the relevant international treaties, this only applies to Iranian creators and not to works from outside Iran.

So I think you're quite correct that as long as this production is only being performed inside Iran, it wouldn't need permission.

Balthazar
Dear Balthazar,

Thank you for your nice and valuable information about copyright. I didn't know that.

I had another question. What about publishing studies or commentaries about Tintin? Do they also follow strict copyright rules?

For example, if I want to publish a book on techniques of translating humors, word plays, and puns in comic books, especially in the adventures of Tintin, surely, I would need to present some pictures or frames from Tintin books. In such case, should I seek the permission or license, or like any other research, proper referencing such as mentioning the name of authors (and the fact that the pictures are Moulinsart properties) would suffice?

I indeed went and watch the Tintin play. And I found it amazing, superb, and astonishingly faithful to the work of Herge. I have grown up to be a very strict Tintin purist. When I watched Spielberg's Tintin movie, although I enjoyed, I wasn't quite satisfied since it was not faithful to the "original Tintin soul". But when I came out of the theatre house, I loved the Tintin play, and I was totally satisfied. The characters was exactly the same as those with whom I have gown up and lived. I could see my lovely characters alive in the flesh on the scene. I believe it is a professional work for professional. Tintin lovers.

I would advise you to, just to be on the safe side. A writer called Bob Garcia wrote some pamphlets about Tintin which included illustrations from the books. This was for the purpose of analysis, like suggesting that scenes from the Tintin books were inspired by old movies or looking at aspects that linked Tintin to Sherlock Holmes.

Garcia was later sued by Moulinsart for a large amount, even though he claimed that he never made any money from distributing the pamphlets.

See here for our own discussion on the Bob Garcia vs Moulinsart legal action.

Moderator Note: In the context of a copyright dispute, the question isn't whether or not the defendant made money or not, that's a red herring; the damages are awarded for the money which might otherwise have been made by the copyright's owner, and/ or to compensate them for the use of their intellectual property without permission.
The Tintinologist Team