Batmobile gets copyright protection in court

“As Batman so sagely told Robin, ‘In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential.’ Batman: The Penguin Goes Straight, (Greenway Productions television broadcast March 23, 1966)”. George Barris put the original Batmobile for the ABC TV series together for the show. “In the real world, it’s just a auto”. Meanwhile, Towle should demand his money back from his lawyers – who really should have known better – and perhaps start designing his own superhero cars.

A spokesman for Time Warner Inc. unit Warner Brothers, corporate parent of DC Comics, declined to comment.

An officially licensed 1963 Batmobile was auctioned off past year. The argument, though, is considered “irrelevant” because even if the mechanic’s replica Batmobiles were indirect copies of DC’s character, the plaintiff “is entitled to sue for infringement of its underlying work”. Thus, the judges declared, it’s the ruling that Gotham Garage deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

The Batmobile’s bat-like appearance and other distinct attributes, including its high-tech weaponry, make it a character that can’t be replicated without permission from DC Comics, the copyright holder, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.

“To the Batmobile!” she wrote. According to the court, Towle sold the cars for $90,000 each. Towle also said that the Batmobile can sometimes be seen without its “bat-like” features.

Towle appealed that decision past year, but obviously didn’t find a more sympathetic bench. But the panel said that was akin to James Bond changing from swimming trunks to a tuxedo: It did not alter the car’s innate characteristics.

Towle argued that the Batmobile has not always been black nor aerodynamic, nor has it had such parts as exaggerated front fenders, a jet-engine afterburner and bat-themed gadgets.