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In news originating with the Belgian Le Soir, Casterman and Moulinsart have announced that there will be a new, authorized Tintin adventure - due for release in 2052!

In a Paris press interview, given to the French Soir and Le Monde, Nick Rodwell and the new executive team at Casterman made some statements about their plans for the future.

With the prospect of Tintin coming out of copyright in 2053, it is a move designed to protect the interests of the Studios Hergé before any "bashibazouks" (used figuratively, in the manner of Captain Haddock, I am sure...) step in with unauthorized material the following year. This will allow them to continue with their stated aim of "promoting and protecting" the works of Hergé.

In further news, Casterman - in honour of their 80 year association with the character - are preparing a book documenting the history of Cigars of the Pharaoh, from the original black and white version to the finished colour book.

Casterman and Moulinsart have also indicated that they are looking at developing a Jo, Zette and Jocko movie.

Additionally, a sponsorship deal has been struck for the Musée d'Hergé with Casterman.

These announcements must go a long way to showing that past difficulties have been set aside, and whatever problems there might have been in the past have been resolved.

I'm sure other things will happen between 2014 and 2052, but that at least gives you a few things to pop in your diary!

Awesome, can't wait!

Strictly speaking, there's quite a lot of waiting to be done, and I'm not so certain I'll be around to see the new album... ;-)
Put it this way - Casterman is celebrating 80 years of publishing Tintin, and it's 50% of that same time-frame again, until the new book appears.

I think it's best to consider this as a statement of intent, rather than an announcement that there is an actal book under way, and in preparation now (I can't say there isn't, I simply don't know).

So no artists, no writers as yet - they may not even be born!

What it amounts to is that Casterman have been given specific leave, at a point in the future, to publish a new Tintin book for a new generation; this clarifies and ammends the previous condition which specifically embargoed production of new Tintin books, at the behest of Hergé's estate, to honour his desire that there be no new Tintin adventures after his death.

The new statement is to meet the challenge of the loss of copyright in the series, which is vested in the Studios Hergé charitable foundation, which will occur at 2053 (presumably with the provisio that there are no changes in legislation, offering an extension). By authorizing an official series, they hope to continue the works of the Studios in promoting and preserving the legacy of Hergé.

As such, it can be seen to be entirely pragmatic. There will be little they can do to stop the production of new books by anybody after the copyright expires, Hergé's wishes or not; therefore they will be forced to act by circumstance, but apparently not before.

I'm not sure that the whole procedure will be quite so straightforward as Tintin suddenly becoming available from all and sundry without any control; there will undoubtedly be nuance to this that needs more than me as a barrack-room lawyer to unpick.

For example, as I've mentioned before, the Popeye of Elzie Seegar is currently in the public domain in the EU, but is still in copyright in the U.S.A. until 2024 - so you could make Popeye themed t-shirts for sale, and draw your own strips in Europe, but they'd be illegal in America. However, you'd be in trouble if you exploited your tees and comics under the name Popeye, because that is still a trademark of King Features Syndicate, who could act against you, wherever you were.

So it might not be just as simple as dashing off a few volumes of Tintin with a photocopier, to stay legal, even in 2053...

Will there even be books in 2053? Our library is throwing away boxes of them each week!

Gee... It will be the correct time for me, I will be 77 then - and Tintin is meant for those between 7 and 77... And, if I'm still alive it will be the 70th year of my getting introduced to Tintin...
I wonder if I can pre-order it now...? :) :)

We're getting a lot of visitors viewing this subject today - come on lurkers, why not sign up, and let us have your thoughts on potentially the biggest Tintin-related announcement this century...!

Here's one old lurker who has made his views on the subject of new Tintin books clear enough in the past! I'll be 80 in 2052 and if I am too deluded to notice a new Tintin book then so much the better!

I seem to recall that there were issues when JM Barrie's "Peter Pan" came out of copyright and threatened donations to Great Ormond Street Hospital which owed the rights. I think that the UK government and later the EU changed the law in order that the donations could continue. Perhaps they should do something similar to multi-million bestsellers as well.

I can understand the legal reasons why Moulinsart would do this, but I hope that by then some kind of legal means will be found to maintain Herge's wishes in spirit as well as in law. It just would not be the same no matter how good a new writer and artist try. Has anyone managed to write a worthy sequel to Homer's "Odyssey"?

It apparently isn't an extension to the copyright, but they have been granted a right to royalty by the U.K. government. They say themselves that's different (you can find all the info on the GOSH web-site, which explains what they do, and don't get money for).
Don't know if it extends to the rest of the EU (initially it didn't for sure, but I've not done an exhaustive search for the years since the lapse - it may have been revised since then).


Not certain the point you are making - are you suggesting that Peter Pan hasn't sold multi-millions of copies? There aren't reliable figures to be had, but I would be very surprised if it hasn't.

GOSH also paved the way for Moulinsart's move by commisioning their own official Peter Pan sequel prior to the copyright lapse.

Disney have had considerable success in lobbying for extending the copyright period, to the benefit of Mickey Mouse (and, I imagine, the similarly aged Winnie the Pooh), but as noted above, Popeye has lapsed in the E.U. without much fuss.
This may have been a fairly smart move on the part of King Features Syndicate; rather than bothering to fight for revised rigts, they are now using the trademarks they hold in the property to effectively give them control over new and derivative works anyway.


Until someone digs up a copy of The Telegony we may never know...

Is there any idea if this would be an all-new book? I was thinking it may be an official ending to Alph-Art, which I think would think make us just as happy.

No, actually. It isn't even specified that it will be an album as we know it - I think there was a suggestion it could be a written novel.


Indeed it could, or perhaps they would use the other plot ideas which have been attributed to Hergé - the Day at the Airport concept, where he saw all the action take place in a terminal as Tintin waited to go somewhere else. We just don't know.

Although a new Tintin book in 2052 was given the star position in all reports of what went on yesterday, it should be pointed out that there is no mention of it in the official joint press release; there the emphasis is on the more proximate projects starting with the partnership between Casterman and the Museum, and moving on to new books, specifically next year's look at the development of Cigars of the Pharaoh.

Anything about 2052 must have been in the interview itself, and may have been nothing more than a throw-away line to get press coverage (I am reminded of the old "Next Doctor Who Could be a Woman!!" gambit, used by various BBC producers to increase the column inches after their press conferences...), or a polite way of answering a question, but batting it so far into the future that it scarcely matters.

The question of a further book must be like a broken record to both parties; they now effectively have created breathing space, because they can say, "Wait until 2052...!" when anyone asks.

It could be of course that the "2052" idea is absolutely as stated, I'm not contradicting that.

However, the real "meat" of yesterday's announcemnet is in the present: Moulinsart and Casterman have worked out past differences; Casterman is making a commitment to the Museum as a sign of their faith in the Tintin property, and to foster links between the two organizations; both parties will work on joint projects; and they confirm that sales of the series continue to be strong, better than the competitors, and benefitting from the success of the movie.