Pow! Appeals court assigns copyright to the Batmobile

"Holy copyright law, Batman!" So goes a line in the first paragraph of a federal appeals court ruling announcing that the iconic Batmobile is a character protected by copyright.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with DC Comics in its copyright infringement suit against Mark Towle, the operator of Gotham Garage, the maker of Batmobile modification kits.

"As Batman so sagely told Robin, 'In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential,'" the three-judge court unanimously concluded Wednesday in its 28-page opinion. (PDF)

The San Francisco-based appeals court's decision largely upholds a 2012 ruling (PDF) from a federal judge in DC Comics' lawsuit that accused Gotham Garage of selling "unlicensed replica vehicle modification kits based on vehicle design copyrights from plaintiff's Batman property, including various iterations of the fictional automobile, the Batmobile."

The appeals court noted that in 2008 it sided with the copyright of "Eleanor," a car with "widely identifiable traits" that appeared in the motion picture Gone in 60 Seconds.

That said, the court held that copyright protection is not always available for every comic book, television, or motion picture character. The judges said it is available only for "characters that are especially distinctive." And in the case of Eleanor and the Batmobile, those fictional vehicles qualify.

Batman nerds will appreciate the court's three-prong analysis it used to determine whether a character or vehicle such as the Batmobile deserves copyright protection. The character must have "physical as well as conceptual qualities." It must also be "sufficiently delineated" to be recognized as the same character whenever it appears. Finally, it must "contain some unique elements of expression."

"First, because the Batmobile has appeared graphically in comic books, and as a three-dimensional car in television series and motion pictures, it has 'physical as well as conceptual qualities,' and is thus not a mere literary character," the court ruled.

Regarding the second prong, the court wrote:

As the district court determined, the Batmobile has maintained distinct physical and conceptual qualities since its first appearance in the comic books in 1941. In addition to its status as “a highly-interactive vehicle, equipped with high-tech gadgets and weaponry used to aid Batman in fighting crime,” the Batmobile is almost always bat-like in appearance, with a bat-themed front end, bat wings extending from the top or back of the car, exaggerated fenders, a curved windshield, and bat emblems on the vehicle. This bat-like appearance has been a consistent theme throughout the comic books, television series, and motion picture, even though the precise nature of the bat-like characteristics have changed from time to time.

The Batmobile also has consistent character traits and attributes. No matter its specific physical appearance, the Batmobile is a “crime-fighting” car with sleek and powerful characteristics that allow Batman to maneuver quickly while he fights villains. In the comic books, the Batmobile is described as waiting “[l]ike an impatient steed straining at the reins... shiver[ing] as its super-charged motor throbs with energy” before it “tears after the fleeing hoodlums” an instant later. Elsewhere, the Batmobile “leaps away and tears up the street like a cyclone,” and at one point “twin jets of flame flash out with thunderclap force, and the miracle car of the dynamic duo literally flies through the air!” Like its comic book counterpart, the Batmobile depicted in both the 1966 television series and the 1989 motion picture possesses “jet engine[s]” and flame-shooting tubes that undoubtedly give the Batmobile far more power than an ordinary car. Furthermore, the Batmobile has an ability to maneuver that far exceeds that of an ordinary car. In the 1966 television series, the Batmobile can perform an “emergency bat turn” via reverse thrust rockets. Likewise, in the 1989 motion picture, the Batmobile can enter “Batmissile” mode, in which the Batmobile sheds “all material outside [the] central fuselage” and reconfigures its “wheels and axles to fit through narrow openings.”

Equally important, the Batmobile always contains the most up-to-date weaponry and technology. At various points in the comic book, the Batmobile contains a “hot-line phone... directly to Commissioner Gordon’s office” maintained within the dashboard compartment, a “special alarm” that foils the Joker’s attempt to steal the Batmobile, and even a complete “mobile crime lab” within the vehicle. Likewise, the Batmobile in the 1966 television series possesses a “Bing-Bong warning bell,” a mobile Bat-phone, a “Batscope, complete with [a] TV-like viewing screen on the dash,” and a “Bat-ray.” Similarly, the Batmobile in the 1989 motion picture is equipped with a “pair of forward-facing Browning machine guns,” “spherical bombs,” “chassis- mounted shinbreakers,” and “side-mounted disc launchers.”

The vehicle meets the final test because of its "status as Batman's loyal bat-themed sidekick" and because of its "unique and highly recognizable name," the court ruled.