If you want to build a Batmobile and call it that when you sell it, you better get DC Comics and Warner Bros.’ permission first. A court ruling states that the publisher can get copyright protection on the Batmobile.
The Batmobile became the center of a legal rama in 2011 when DC Comics challenged California mechanic Mark Towle, who was making money by selling replicas of Batmobiles based on the ‘60s TV show and Tim Burton’s 1989 movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Towle, who was selling his Batmobiles for $90,000 each, claimed that the Batmobile is a “useful article,” not an artistic object that could be protected under copyright.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges didn’t buy that, saying on Wednesday that the Batmobile - specifically the Burton Batmobile and the ‘60s car - is such a distinctive property that DC Comics has the right to protect and license the “automotive character.”
"As Batman so sagely told Robin, 'In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential,'” judge Sandra Ikuta wrote in the opinion. “Here, we conclude that the Batmobile character is the property of DC, and Towle infringed upon DC’s property rights when he produced unauthorized derivative works of the Batmobile as it appeared in the 1966 television show and the 1989 motion picture.”
According to Reuters, Towle has not commented on the ruling.
You can read the entire opinion right here. It’s filled with plenty of Bat-references for Bat-fans to enjoy.