The digitized Calvin and Hobbes cartoon images used in our classes syllabus shouldn’t infringe on any copyrights regulations, so long as the cartoons are used in full and aren’t edited in any way. Anything published between 1977 and March 1, 1989, falls under public domain if it doesn’t hold a copyright notice, which I don’t believe the comic does. The comic was also published publicly in newspapers, thus making it available to the majority of the US to see and use how they wish. The act of digitizing should be completely legal, as the strip is being presented in the same way that it was originally printed, just in a different format, and by displaying the comics in full, as they were originally printed, they should be perfectly acceptable to use.

Also, Calvin and Hobbes comic strips were not a purchasable piece of art, as they were published publicly in news papers, making them available to almost anyone while in syndication. Where as publishing a novel online, where the author makes money through book sales, the comics are not subject to such restrictions.