King Kong is a novel written by Delos W. Lovelace in 1932 at the request of his friend Merian C. Cooper based on Cooper's then-upcoming film King Kong to serve as part of the film's advertising. As a result of the copyright not being renewed and subsequently expiring, the novelization has entered the public domain. Because of this, numerous publishers have re-released the novel over time, particularly during the buildup to the 1976 and 2005 remakes of King Kong. In 1976, an abridged version with illustrations by Richard Powers was released with the names The Illustrated King Kong, and King Kong: A Picture Book. Some editions of the novel have followed suit, and include original illustrations or stills from the film, to set themselves apart from other versions. To this end, an edition originally published by Modern Library in 2005 includes a foreword by Merian C. Cooper biographer Mark Cotta Vaz. The novelization's public domain status has allowed authors and filmmakers to create adaptations or new stories using characters and elements specifically from the novel, such as the 1998 animated film The Mighty Kong and the 2005 sequel novel Kong Reborn. Through cooperation with Merian C. Cooper's estate, Joe DeVito and Brad Strickland created a rewrite of this novelization titled Merian C. Cooper's King Kong in 2005 which serves as the basis for DeVito ArtWorks' King Kong of Skull Island media property.