Editing Conan the Barbarian (section)

==Copyright and trademark dispute==
The name ''Conan'' and the names of some of Robert E. Howard's other characters are claimed as trademarked by Conan Properties International<ref>{{Cite press release|url=https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2012/06/05/266196/0/sv/Conan-film-rights-revert-to-Conan-Properties.html|title = Conan film rights revert to Conan Properties|date = 5 June 2012}}</ref> and licensed to [[Cabinet Entertainment]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cabinetentertainment.com/our-licenses/conan/|title = Conan| date=26 January 2023 }}</ref> both entities controlled by CEO Fredrik Malmberg.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gamingaktier |date=2018-04-03 |title=Intervju med Fredrik Malmberg (Funcom) |url=https://gamingaktier.com/intervju-med-fredrik-malmberg-funcom/ |website=Gamingaktier |language=sv-SE}}</ref>

Since Robert E. Howard's Conan stories were published at a time when the date of publication was the marker (1932–1963), however, and any new owners failed to renew them to maintain the copyrights,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.robert-e-howard.org/AnotherThought4rerevised.html| title = Paul Herman's research on the copyright status of Robert Howard's work| access-date = 2009-04-01| archive-date = 2009-02-28| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090228111053/http://www.robert-e-howard.org/AnotherThought4rerevised.html| url-status = dead}}</ref> the exact copyright status of all of Howard's 'Conan' works is in question.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm |title=Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States at Cornell University |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704071954/http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm |archive-date=2012-07-04 }}</ref> The majority of Howard's Conan fiction exist in at least two versions, subject to different copyright standards, namely 1) the original ''Weird Tales'' publications before or shortly after Howard's death, which are generally understood to be [[public domain]] and 2) restored versions based upon manuscripts which were unpublished during Howard's lifetime.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Herman |first=Paul |date=1 May 2007 |title=THE COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP STATUS OF THE WORKS AND WORDS OF ROBERT E. HOWARD |url=http://www.robert-e-howard.org/AnotherThought4rerevised.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715192544/http://www.robert-e-howard.org/AnotherThought4rerevised.html |archive-date=15 July 2019 |access-date=18 July 2022 |website=Robert-E-Howard Electronic Amateur Press Association}}</ref>

The character of Conan will officially enter the public domain worldwide on January 1st, 2028 due to the longest extant term of copyright in the world on work for hire material being 95 years from the date of first publication. The character of Conan first appeared in print in 1932. Current trademarks on Conan can not be used to extend Conan Properties International's copyright protections, as established by the [[United States Supreme Court]] in the case ''[[Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=DASTAR CORP. v. TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORP. ET AL. 539 US 23 - Supreme Court 2003 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13445605668854417212}}</ref> in which [[Antonin Scalia]] warned that allowing these types of restrictions on a public domain work could effectively create "a species of mutant copyright law" that would limit the public's right to copy and use expired copyrights. 

The Australian site of [[Project Gutenberg]] hosts digital copies of many of Howard's stories, including several works about Conan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Ervin HOWARD (1906–1936) |url=https://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html#howardre |publisher=Project Gutenberg}}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, works are released into the [[public domain]] 70&nbsp;years after the death of an author. With Howard having died in 1936, his works have been in the public domain there since 2007. The same standard applies for Malmberg's home country of [[Sweden]].

In August 2018, Conan Properties International LLC won by default a suit against Spanish sculptor Ricardo Jove Sanchez after he failed to appear at court in the United States. Jove had started a [[crowdfunding]] campaign that raised around €3000 on [[Kickstarter]], with the intent of selling barbarian figurines to online customers, including those in the United States. The Magistrate Judge originally recommended statutory damages for infringement on three Robert E. Howard characters not including Conan, but Jove was eventually fined $3,000 per character used in the campaign, including Conan, for a total of $21,000.<ref name="CNS Conan Infringement Ruling">{{cite web |title=Artist Thwacked for Conan the Barbarian Infringement |url=https://www.courthousenews.com/artist-thwacked-for-conan-the-barbarian-infringement/ |website=Courthouse News Service |access-date=27 May 2021}}</ref>

In September 2020, it was announced that [[Netflix]] had made a larger deal involving Malmberg and Mark Wheeler from Pathfinder Media between Netflix and Conan Properties International for the exclusive rights to the Conan library for the rights for live-action and animated films and TV shows.<ref name=":0"/>

In 2024, British author and [[Eisner Award]] winner [[John Allison (comics)|John Allison]] started to publish a Conan serial online, with a tongue-in-cheek narrative heavily intermingled with characters from his own works. However, he took the unfinished comic down in late April, after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Conan Properties International. Allison notes that to his understanding Conan "is in the public domain in the UK (where I live and work)", but that he doesn't have "the time or energy to contest this".<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Announcement – Scary Go Round :: Side Projects |url=https://badmachinery.com/comic/announcement/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423111052/https://badmachinery.com/comic/announcement/ |archive-date=2024-04-23 |access-date= |website=badmachinery.com}}</ref>