Columbia's "Face" Copyright

[Roygbiv666]

Hi

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I posted a fake comic cover on Facebook that featured Columbia's "The Face".

I received this post:
"Ron Frantz
Once again, I am forced to bring up the matter that The Face is absolutely NOT a public domain character. In 1987, I purchased the publishing rights to the character directly from Mr. Vincent Sullivan. Vince was, of course, the creator of the Face and was the original editor and publisher. He also retained all of the publishing rights before they were sold to me. I have all my original correspondence with Mr. Sullivan, the bill of sale, and all my cancelled checks to offer as proof. In addition, the original contract was approved by my attorney at the time who happened to be a municipal judge. I don't wish to get ugly, but I will take whatever legal action necessary to protect my rights in his matter."

So, I idly checked Big Shot Comics #1 and Face #1 to see if the copyrights were renewed in 1968/1969. They were not. https://archive.org/details/catalogofcopy19683222libr/page/120/mode/1up?view=theater

Did Frantz get ripped off, or am I missing something about the copyright status?

Roy

[Yoc]

Hi Roy,
Yeah, I've read the same thing from him in the past.  He claims he owns Sky-Man as well.
I guess the only real way to know would be to go to court.

-Yoc

[OtherEric]

It seems probable that he owns any rights that may exist... but if the material was not renewed and the trademark has lapsed, not much exists.  Then again, the courts could rule otherwise if it ever did make it to court... see the Thunder Agents for instance.

[Roygbiv666]

No trademark, no copyright. What else is there? Nothing.

Poor guy got swindled.