It’s from 2005, but it’s not like anything has changed.

from The Comics Journal #270, August 2005

“What’s going on,” said Ted Rall, “is death by a thousand cuts.”

Sadly, the commentary on Nebraska’s most widely-distributed cartoonist, The Omaha World-Herald’s Jeff Koterba, will be sans-cartoons in a matter of minutes. I received this unfortunate e-mail minutes ago.

You’re (sic) obsession with me would be almost comical, if not for your continued violation of copyright laws. While many bloggers maintain that the use of any copyrighted material falls into a gray area, there is no doubt that legally, you must ask permission prior to posting my work on your website.

At first I was simply flattered that you kept taking me to task. Now, however, it’s getting a little creepy.
I’m going to have to ask you to immediately remove my work from your site. Furthermore, any future use of my work will require my permission.

It’s too bad that it’s come to this. If I’m not mistaken, you once contacted me while you were at UNL, asking for advice. If it wasn’t you, I apologize. I am frequently approached by student cartoonists for feedback, regarding their work. I always do my best to be as helpful as I can. It is always my intention to encourage anyone who is starting out (You and I both know how difficult it can be to break into the field). It’s always helpful to have a mentor, a friend, anyone who cartoons full time, to take the time to look over work.

While I respect your right to attack me, I have to say that the next time I hear of a full-time cartooning job opening up somewhere, you wouldn’t exactly be the first person I’d call.

Jeff Koterba

The bad news is, the cartoons are coming down. The good news is, he’s not going to help me get a better job, which will leave me with more time to blog.

UPDATE!!! After a few e-mails back and forth, Koterba has implied that the visually-aided commentary may not be dead after all – I’ll just need to ask first.

…Also, regarding reprints and usage on blogs, I’m fairly liberal (no pun intended). I almost always grant permission. Again, if in the future you want to take me to task, on brushstrokes or politics, I’m not too thin-skinned to grant permission. Believe me, the stuff you’ve written about me doesn’t come close to some of the stuff that’s been said about me (including Ted Rall’s cartoon)…

So looks like he’s not that big of a villain after all. BUMMER!