Questions which are most frequently asked to the British Cartoon Archive can be found below with the relevant answers.
If your question is not covered below, please feel free to email us at cartoons@kent.ac.uk.
FAQ list
Copyright in the cartoons on the BCA website lasts for the lifetime of the cartoonist, plus seventy years. A cartoon by Will Dyson, published in 1937, will thus be out of copyright, because he died in 1938. But a cartoon by David Low from 1910 will remain in copyright until the beginning of 2034, because he lived until 1963.
The BCA has obtained permission to display copyright cartoons on its catalogue, but cannot give permission for their use in other contexts.
Known copyright holder details are included in our catalouge records. If you would like to seek permission to use a cartoon, please contact the copyright holder, or email us at cartoons@kent.ac.uk.
You may use material from the BCA catalogue for teaching purposes within your school, college, or university, if you give suitable credit. You should identify the BCA as the source of the cartoon, and also give the name of the cartoonist, the publication, and the date.
In addition to using material from the BCA catalogue, most UK schools and educational bodies are also permitted to copy cartoons from current newspapers under their licence from the NLA (Newspaper Licensing Association). For more information, or to obtain a licence, visit www.newspapersforschools.co.uk or contact:
You may use material from the BCA catalogue in essays and student presentations within your school, college, or university, if suitable credit is given. You should identify the BCA as the source of the cartoon, and give the catalogue number, plus the name of the cartoonist, the publication, and the date.
This permission does not cover the reproduction of copyright cartoons for non-educational purposes within schools, colleges, or universities, such as reproduction in student magazines or on posters for events. This type of use should be cleared in advance with the copyright owner.
Please see our copyright guide for students for further information.
Most of the cartoons on the BCA catalogue are in copyright, and the rules for including them in a thesis vary according to the laws of the country in which the thesis will be presented.
If a thesis containing copyright work is published, which includes making the thesis available on the web, permission will have to be sought from the copyright owner, as the use is not covered by educational exemptions.
Please see our guide to copyright and your thesis for further information.
You may use material from the BCA catalogue in presentations at academic seminars and conferences, including poster presentations, so long as no publication takes place outside the seminar or conference venue. You should identify the BCA as the source of the cartoon, and also give the name of the cartoonist, the publication, and the date.
This permission does not extend to the use of material from the BCA catalogue in the publicity for academic seminars or conferences, or in presentations at commercial seminars and conferences, or at training events. In these cases permission to use copyright cartoons must be sought from the copyright owner, and from the BCA for all other material. Contact details for the rights owners of copyright cartoons on the BCA catalogue can be found on the BCA catalogue, or by emailing us at cartoons@kent.ac.uk.
The BCA has permission from the rights owners to display copyright cartoons on its online catalogue, but it is unable to licence any further republication. For republication - which not only covers books and articles, but also the reuse of copyright cartoons on websites and in exhibitions - you need to contact the copyright owner of the image. Contact details can be found on the BCA catalogue, or by emailing info@cartoons.ac.uk
The BCA can supply high-resolution images for personal use for a small fee. These are supplied as digital files.
If the cartoon is in copyright, these images cannot be republished or used for any commercial purpose without the permission of the copyright owner. The contact details for copyright owners can be found on the BCA catalogue, or by emailing info@cartoons.ac.uk
The BCA is not a commercial institution and therefore does not buy or sell cartoons, or provide an identification or valuation service.
Please consider contacting a local auction house or artwork valuer.
The BCA's collections have been built up over the years by donation and loan, from cartoonists, newspapers, and collectors.
Please see our collection management policy for detailed infromation about our criteria for acquiring new collections.
If you would like to donate material to the BCA please email us at cartoons@kent.ac.uk. We review all offers on a case-by-case basis