In addition to Robin and Alfred, Batman apparently has quite a legal team helping him, too. Judges in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier ruling about the copyright ramifications of selling replicas of the Batmobile. According to an Associated Press report in the Detroit News, the unique appearance of the Caped Crusader's car was found to make it a character in the story and therefore couldn't be copied without permission from DC Comics.
The legal battle between Mark Towle and DC Comics goes back years. Towle's business, Gotham Garage, offered replicas of the 1966 Batmobile from the Adam West TV series and the 1989 film version. They were priced around $90,000, according to AP. The original sold for $4.62 million at auction in 2013.
Towle's lawyer argued that the Batmobiles were simply cars and couldn't be protected by copyright. In the earlier finding against Towle, the US District Court judge disagreed and defined the Dark Knight's ride as more than just a vehicle but as a character in Batman's tales.
This new ruling by the US Appeals Court upholds the district court's findings. "As Batman so sagely told Robin, 'In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential,'" Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote for the panel, according to the AP report.
Related Video:
The legal battle between Mark Towle and DC Comics goes back years. Towle's business, Gotham Garage, offered replicas of the 1966 Batmobile from the Adam West TV series and the 1989 film version. They were priced around $90,000, according to AP. The original sold for $4.62 million at auction in 2013.
Towle's lawyer argued that the Batmobiles were simply cars and couldn't be protected by copyright. In the earlier finding against Towle, the US District Court judge disagreed and defined the Dark Knight's ride as more than just a vehicle but as a character in Batman's tales.
This new ruling by the US Appeals Court upholds the district court's findings. "As Batman so sagely told Robin, 'In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential,'" Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote for the panel, according to the AP report.
Related Video:
Featured Gallery Original 1966 Batmobile at Barris Kustoms
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