Batman Did Better Than Shelby

[HealeyRick]

"A federal appeals court has found that two famous versions of the Batmobile were protected under the copyright for the original Batman comic strip held by DC Comics.
DC Comics, a unit of Time Warner’s Warner Bros. Entertainment that owns the copyright to the original Batman comic book series, had sued a San Diego area man who was selling full-sized replicas of the Batmobile— some for as much as $90,000 each—as depicted in both the 1966 television series “Batman” starring Adam West and the 1989 movie “Batman” featuring Michael Keaton.
“Holy copyright law, Batman!” wrote Judge Sandra Ikuta in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Wednesday’s opinion, which found that the Batmobile was a “sufficiently distinctive” character to the original Batman comic book series.
“Since his first comic book appearance in 1939, the Caped Crusader has protected Gotham City from villains with the help of his sidekick Robin the Boy Wonder, his utility belt, and of course, the Batmobile,” Ikuta wrote. “Here, DC retained its copyright in the Batmobile character even though its appearance in the 1966 and 1989 productions did not directly copy any comic book depiction.”
Warner Bros. spokesman Paul McGuire declined to comment.
Larry Zerner, a solo practitioner in Los Angeles who represents Mark Towle, owner of Gotham Garage, said: “We’re disappointed in the ruling. The Copyright Act specifically exempts the design of automobiles from copyright protection, and we’re looking at our options.”In 2011, DC Comics sued Towle, who countered that the Batmobile wasn’t a protected character under DC’s copyright.
“Sometimes the car has bat themes; sometimes it doesn’t,” Zerner said, noting that the version in the 2012 film “The Dark Knight Rises” looked more like a tank.
The Ninth Circuit’s ruling affirms a decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Lew of the Central District of California who, ruling on summary judgment motions, found in 2013 that the Batmobile was subject to copyright protection because, although it changed slightly over the years, it was always depicted with “high-tech gadgets and weaponry” and “bat-like motifs.”


Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id...#ixzz3mbiDQrT4

[cycleguy55]

I believe we all understand Carroll Shelby allowed the replica market to develop and flourish over a number of years before he attempted to seize control of the Cobra 'style'. In lay terms, the court basically told him he was too late - had he objected when replicas first started to appear he would most likely have been successful, but waiting all those years precluded his ability to put a stop to it.

The Batmobile, OTOH, has not resulted in a well developed and flourishing replica industry. DC Comics did not 'turn a blind eye', as Ole Shel did, so the court granted them protection on the Batmobile design - and that's the fundamental difference. That also probably explains why Ferrari (and others) will aggressively protect their designs from being copied - they don't want to be 'shut out' the same way Shelby was.