New Zealand must have lax or poorly enforced copyright laws. An outfit called “Pixiluv” that ships from there advertises numerous calendars on Amazon.com. Many feature old art and advertisements that are, or should be, out of copyright everywhere, but quite a few others display recent illustrations, such as the Katanagatari calendar above.1
The Sailor Moon calendar above combines Takeuchi’s own pictures with a selection of fanart. It looks to me like the ones who compiled the anime calendars raided Pixiv and other fanart sites for the pictures. Either they have really slick lawyers, or they are brazen art thieves.
Still, they do render a useful service, questionable though it is. Where else are you going to find a Touhou calendar? Or Rozen Maiden?
Others that caught my eye include N.C. Wyeth,
“Dance Fantastic,” and many others. Most popular recent anime is represented, and there is much early 20th-century fairy tale and historical book illustration and ancient advertising for products ranging from Harley-Davidson to absinthe.
I ordered one calendar without thinking when I first saw it, but I’ve since resisted the urge to order a wall-full more. It’s difficult, since they are reasonably priced and there’s little elsewhere like them. Perhaps legitimate calendar publishers will take note and print more than just calendars of cute puppies and lousy movies — nah, it’ll never happen.
Notes
- When will Crunchroll license the series?