I just looked at my DVD of Heavy Metal and it finally struck me the amazing similarity between its 1981 cover
and the cover of my 1979 copy of John Carter of Mars.
Does anyone know if this was ever a copyright issue? Or am I just too much of a sci-fi geek and should just go back to the nearest Star Wars thread?
The two works are similar but you can’t copyright the idea of a sexy woman riding, sword held high, on the back of a giant bird, only a particular expression of that idea. The concept might have been consciously stolen by the creator of the later work, but there’s no law against that. Alternatively, the ideas may have originated independently, or they may both be based on a previous work, say the story, John Carter of Mars.
It’s not a copy, so it’s not a copyright issue. The art is similar in design, but not identical, and it would be very hard for the artist to prove it was plagiarized.