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DC Comics Prevails In Batmobile Copyright Dispute

Posted by timothy on from the mechanical-royalties dept.

think_nix writes "Wired reports of U.S. District Judge Ronald S. W. Lew siding with DC Comics in the federal copyright court case against Gotham Garage owner Mark Towle. DC accused Towle of selling 'unlicensed replica vehicle modification kits based on vehicle design copyrights from plaintiff's Batman property, including various iterations of the fictional automobile, the Batmobile.' Lew noted that 'DC Comics pleads sufficient facts to support its allegations. Although, generally copyright law does not apply to "useful articles" such as autos.'"

6 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. Surviving dismissal motion != prevailing by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Informative

    DC Comics has withstood the defendant's motion to dismiss. The judge has not sided with them on any merits of their claims; he has merely said they have enough of a legal basis to proceed with their lawsuit. DC has not won yet.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  2. Not fair by Droog57 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can see this being a problem for a mass-produced replica or knock-off toys, but the kind of buyer for this product does not have any other choice than to get one custom made. If I remember correctly the original was a one off by George Barris, and the Gotham Garage website hails a Munster Mobile, with apparently no issues there. If someone wants to plunk down (presumably) big bucks to fulfill a childhood dream, they should be able to. This is copyright gone too far.

    --
    "If the only tool that you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Donny Rumsfeld
  3. Re:I'm actually ok with this by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 5, Insightful

    if I had to choose between iOS and LCARS I'd take iOS.

    Ever look at an LCARS interface? jesus, who designed this? Space aliens? Oh wait...

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    Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  4. Re:On to other things by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess I can no longer count on my plan to sell copies of Wonder Woman's invisible jet to make my billions.

    Thats why I am taking a leaf from Zynga and intend to sell copies of the Amazing Maiden's Optically Stealthy Turbofan Aerial Craft!!!

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  5. I would, but Bill Finger and Bob Kane are dead. by Lanboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Since the Batmobile debuted in 1941, using the copyright rules in effect of the times, the name would be public domain since 1991. Since our congressmen are apparently paid by Disney, this date was pushed to 2011 and now 2031. Let us try to guess how much in royalties the descendants of the creators of the name Batmobile will get. Lets see... Oh yes they will get ditkuss.

    Bill Finger probably made a total of 50K off of batman his whole goddamn life. So I am not crying for DC here.

  6. Re:I'm actually ok with this by EdIII · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you two don't stop it I will pull this thread right over! :)