On New Year's Day, Popeye became a public domain character in the European Union.

Copyright laws in the European Union have not seen the massive (and usually corporately-fueled) revisions those in the United States have, meaning that the rights of the creator to their property/character are protected for 70 years after their death. Elzie Segar, who created Popeye, died in 1938, according to The Telegraph. Segar's relatively early death at age 43, allows Popeye's copyright to be tested before his more famous contemporaries.

...anyone can use the character of Popeye in new comics, clothing, and other media without the need to seek authorization from the Popeye rights holders (King Features) or pay royalties for the use. As always, it’s a fine line — the Segar drawings themselves are out of copyright, so derivative work can use and be based on them, but not on later material that was built upon Segar’s material. Additionally, the expiration only covers the copyright, not the trademark.

American copyright laws are ridiculous, and getting worse by the decade. I can't wait to see what happens when Walt Disney's 70 years are up in 2036 and everybody in the EU is making Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck stuff. The internet—or whatever we have in 2036—means that all that stuff will be readily available in the United States.

Here's a list of people whose work is now open use in certain countries this year. In Canada, it appears that Zorro is now in the public domain, and in Europe, Clarence Darrow and the writer of the lyrics to "Hava Nagila" have both passed the 70 year mark.