Former cartoonists Sousuke and Whiskey are angry after a letter from Standard Uitgeverij bans them from drawing cartoon characters

Full message to former employees:

Topic: Sousuke and Whiskey drawings

As you know, Standard Uitgeverij owns all the rights to exploit the Suske en Wiske series. One of our missions as the exclusive licensee of this series is to protect the legacy of Willy Vandersteen on behalf of the Vandersteen heirs and to hold accountable third parties who make unauthorized use of copyrighted work.

In this context, there is also an express agreement with the Vandersteen heirs to ensure that the current author team will only make drawings of Sousuke, Whiskey and all other characters from the world of Willy Vandersteen or represent the series promotionally at public events such as comic festivals. Book fairs, etc.

This means that all drawings of Suske and Wiske or other characters from the Vandersteen universe created and exploited/sold without permission from Standaard Uitgeverij are illegal productions from a copyright perspective. This also applies to drawings made at the request of fans, collectors and enthusiasts. Standard Uitgeverij has repeatedly indicated that such practices will no longer be tolerated.

All former employees of Studio Vandersteen receive this letter. These agreements enter into force immediately and compliance with them will be monitored.

We thank you in advance for your understanding of this matter.