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Pow! With Supreme Court Rebuff, DC Comics Wins Batmobile Copyright Case (newsoxy.com)
New submitter Mr. Competence writes: The U.S. Supreme court has declined to review a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court declaring that 'the Batmobile is a character that qualifies for copyright protection.' The case involved Mark Towle, a California man who produced replicas of the Batmobile for car-collecting fans of the caped crusader; selling them for about $90,000US each. The original would cost a bit more.
As for why DC might not want a bunch of Batmobiles on the road, they might not like the possibility of a mangled Batmobile showing up on TV after it ran into a train, or a bunch of cops chasing one used in a bank robbery, or maybe something even more silly. Who knows. But that's their decision.
Yes, child, I know how the law works, and it has been perverted. The purpose of copyright is to ensure that a work passes into the hands of the people after a reasonable period.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"