Writing About Comics and Copyright

Academics who research and write about the visual world often complain about the way in which copyright law can hinder their scholarly endeavours, and with good reason. Writing about visual work without reproducing that work is an impoverished exercise, for both writer and reader. But, reproducing visual material can trigger concerns on the part of the conscientious author or – more often – demands on the part of the publisher about the need to secure copyright permission. In this respect, comics scholarship is no different from any other field of visual or cultural studies. Clearing rights for publication can be frustrating and time-consuming, and academic publishers often manage the business of copyright clearance by making their authors responsible for securing permissions. European Comic Art provides a good example. When an article is accepted for publication, authors are ‘required to submit copyright agreements and all necessary permission letters for reprinting or modifying copyrighted materials, both textual and graphic’, and are ‘responsible for obtaining all permissions and clearing any associated fees.’ Not all publishers, however, adhere to such a black and white position. The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics is published by Taylor & Francis. In the ‘Authors Services’ section of their website, the publisher acknowledges that reproducing short extracts of text and other types of material ‘for the purposes of criticism may be possible without formal permission’. To better understand when permission is needed, the publisher directs its authors to the Publishers Association’s Permissions Guidelines. To better understand what rights need to be cleared, authors are directed to the publisher’s own FAQs about using third-party material in an academic article. Thirteen of the publisher’s FAQs expressly relate to the reproduction of visual material, and of those only two concede the possibility of reproducing work without permission (they relate to, respectively, the use of ‘screenshots or grabs of film or video’ and the use of ‘very old paintings’). What is not clear from the FAQs document is whether the publisher is purporting to accurately represent the law in this area. If so – as we shall see – the FAQs document is clearly deficient. If, however, Taylor & Francis is simply using the FAQs document to set out the parameters of its own editorial policy on the reproduction of copyright-protected third-party material, then so be it: the publisher is perfectly entitled to adopt such editorial guidelines as it sees fit. I would suggest, though, that in cleaving to an editorial policy that fails to take full advantage of the scope which the copyright regime allows for the lawful reproduction of copyright-protected material without need for permission, the publisher is missing an opportunity to enable and encourage its contributors to augment and enrich comics scholarship as a discipline. It is in this respect that The Comics Grid is more ambitious and forward-thinking: it actively promotes the lawful use of copyright-protected content for the purposes of academic scholarship. The journal’s copyright policy sets out that third-party images are reproduced on the basis of ‘educational fair use’, with readers and contributors directed to Columbia University Libraries’ Fair Use Checklist for further information. This is a checklist that has been developed to help academics and other scholars make a reasonable and balanced determination about whether their use of copyright-protected work is permissible under s.107 of the US Copyright Act 1976: the fair use provision. Obviously, The Comics Grid locates its copyright advice within the context of US copyright law. But, as a Glasgow-based academic, with an interest in both the history and the current state of the UK copyright regime, my particular focus within this comic concerns the extent to which academics – or indeed anyone interested in writing about comics – can rely upon UK copyright law to reproduce extracts and excerpts from published comics and graphic novels without having to ask the copyright owner for permission. To address that issue we must consider three key questions. What constitutes ‘a work’ protected by copyright within the context of comics publishing? What does it mean to speak of ‘insubstantial copying’ from a copyright-protected comic? And what can be copied lawfully from a comic for the purpose of criticism and review

The relationship between IR, optical, and UV extinction

An analysis is presented for the variability of absolute IR, optical, and UV extinction, A(sub lambda), derived through the ratio of total-to-selective extinction, R, for 31 lines of sight for which reliable UV extinction parameters were derived. These data sample a wide range of environments and are characterized by 2.5 is less than or equal to R is less than or equal to 6.0. It was found that there is a strong linear dependence between extinction expressed as A(sub lambda)/A(sub V) and 1/R for 1.25 micron is less than or equal to lambda is less than or equal to 0.12 micron. Differences in the general shape of extinction curves are largely due to variations in shape of optical/near-UV extinction corresponding to changes in R, with A(sub lambda)/A(sub V) decreasing for increasing R. From a least-squares fit of the observed R-dependence as a function of wavelength for 0.8/micron is less than or greater than 1/lambda is less than or equal to 8.3/micron, an analytic expression was generated from which IR, optical, and UV extinction curves of the form A(sub lambda)/A(sub V) can be reproduced with reasonable accuracy from a knowledge of R. It was also found that the absolute bump strength normalized to A(sub V) shows a general decrease with increasing R, suggesting that some fraction of bump grains may be selectively incorporated into coagulated grains. Finally, it was found that absolute extinction normalized by suitably chosen color indices results in a minimization of the R-dependence of portions of the UV curve, allowing A(sub lambda) to be estimated for these wavelengths independent of R

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton–proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30μm is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than 20μm and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing

Concert recording 2015-04-09a

[Track 01]. Five pieces in folk style. With humor ; [Track 02]. Not fast, but freely ; [Track 03]. Not too fast / Robert Schumann ; arr. Paul Droste -- [Track 04]. Suite no. 1 for tuba and piano, Effie. Effie joins the carnival ; [Track 05]. Effie goes folk dancing ; [Track 06]. Effie sings a lullaby / Alec Wilder -- [Track 07]. Sonata. Andante sostenuto / Trygve Madsen -- [Track 08]. Concerto. Non troppo allegro / Phillip Wilby -- [Track 09]. In bel di / Giaccomo Puccini -- [Track 10]. Ave Maria / Franz Schubert ; arr. Baadsvik -- [Track 11]. Concerto. Allegro moderato / John Williams -- [Track 12]. Fantaisie concertante / Jacques Castéréde

Concert recording 2017-03-06

[Track 1]. Triumph of the demon gods / John Stevens -- [Track 2]. Sonata in F minor. Andante cantabile / Georg Philipp Telemann -- [Track 3]. Sonata in F minor. Allegro / Georg Philipp Telemann -- [Track 4]. Sketches. Spirited / Michael McFarland -- [Track 5]. Sketches. Slow and expressive / Michael McFarland -- [Track 6]. Sonata for unaccompanied euphonium. Introduction and allegro / Fred Clinard -- [Track 7]. Sonata for unaccompanied euphonium. Song / Fred Clinard -- [Track 8]. Tuba concerto. Allegro moderato / Edward Gregson -- [Track 9]. Sonata 1 in F major. Largo Allegro / Benedetto Marcello -- [Track 10]. Suite for cello no. 4, BWV 1010. Bourree 1 Bourree II / Johann Sebastian Bach -- [Track 11]. Summer isles / Philip Sparke -- [Track 12]. Tuba suite. Prelude Hornpipe Sarabande Bourree Mazurka / Gordon Jacob -- [Track 13]. Soliloquy IX / Christopher Wiggins -- [Track 14]. Suite for unaccompanied tuba / Walter Hartley

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

DKN-01 in Combination With Tislelizumab and Chemotherapy as First-Line Therapy in Advanced Gastric or Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma: DisTinGuish.

PURPOSE: The outcomes of anti-PD-1 agents plus fluoropyrimidine/platinum in frontline advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas (aGEAs) remain poor. We investigated the safety, tolerability, and activity of fluoropyrimidine/oxaliplatin and tislelizumab with the DKK1-neutralizing antibody DKN-01 in aGEAs in a phase IIa open-label study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients had untreated human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative aGEAs, RECIST v1.1 measurable disease, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-1, and adequate organ function. Patients received intravenous DKN-01 300 mg once every 2 weeks, tislelizumab 200 mg once every 3 weeks, oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 once every 3 weeks, and capecitabine 1,000 mg/m2 twice daily on days 1-15 of each 21-day cycle. The primary end point was safety and tolerability. Key secondary end points included objective response rate (ORR) by RECISTv1.1, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Between September 18, 2020, and April 8, 2021, 25 patients were enrolled. All patients who received at least one dose of DKN-01 were included in the safety analysis. Most patients had gastroesophageal junction tumors, median age was 61 years, 76% were male, and 55% were ECOG of 0. All patients reported at least one treatment-emergent adverse event. The ORR was 73% (95% CI, 49.8 to 89.3), with a disease control rate of 95%. The ORR was 90% (95% CI, 55.5 to 99.7) in the DKK1-high tumor patients and 67% (95% CI, 29.9 to 92.5) in the DKK1-low tumor patients. The median PFS was 11.3 months (95% CI, 5.8 to 12.0) and the 12-month PFS rate was 33%. The median OS was 19.5 months (95% CI, 15.2 to 24.4) with a 12-month OS rate of 76% and an 18-month OS rate of 55%. CONCLUSION: DKN-01 can be safely combined with frontline fluoropyrimidine/oxaliplatin and tislelizumab and demonstrates encouraging activity independent of PD-L1 expression levels. A randomized phase II trial is ongoing (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04363801)