Copyright Laws And Characters

[Memphis Slim]

Maybe some of you can help me out on this....

I recall reading how DC comics sued Fawcett back in the 40's because Captain Marvel was too close to being like Superman.

But today we have characters at Marvel that are so much like DC characters, the only difference is in name.

Hyperion is just like Superman. More similar than Capt. Marvel ever was.

Nighthawk is Batman except for the skin color and being more blood thirsty.

How can you have a Captain Marvel at DC and Marvel comics without a legal problem??


Can you name some more characters that are copy cats??

 

[Darthphere]

Hyperion is just like Superman. More similar than Capt. Marvel ever was.

Other than having similar powers (or exact same ones) they are completely different. A blind monkey could figure that out.

Nighthawk is Batman except for the skin color and being more blood thirsty.

Except being the keyword don't you think?

How can you have a Captain Marvel at DC and Marvel comics without a legal problem??

The character of Mar-Vell was Marvel Comics' first use of the "Captain Marvel" name, primarily to ensure Marvel obtained the trademark to the title after the copyright on the original Fawcett Comics character of the same name came up for renewal. Captain Mar-Vell was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan and first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (December, 1967).

Because Marvel Comics trademarked their Captain Marvel comic book during the interim between the original Captain Marvel's Fawcett years and DC years, DC Comics is unable to promote and market their Captain Marvel/Marvel Family properties under that name. Since 1972, DC has instead used the trademark Shazam! as the title of their comic books and thus the name under which they market and promote the character. Consequently, Captain Marvel himself is sometimes erroneously referred to as "Shazam."

Can you name some more characters that are copy cats??

We can be here all day doing that, but whats the point? If the character is good, what does it matter. Like people who hate on Moon Knight because they say he's just a Batm,an rip-off, or Black Panther for the same reason (ludicrous).

 

[IKnowSomeJudo]

Other than having similar powers (or exact same ones) they are completely different. A blind monkey could figure that out.

Not if he's referring to Roy Thomas/Mark Gruenwald Hyperion, who pretty much is Superman.

 

[Darthphere]

Not if he's referring to Roy Thomas/Mark Gruenwald Hyperion, who pretty much is Superman.

Pretty much, not exactly the same.

 

[Memphis Slim]

Hyperion IV (Supreme Power)
Main article: Hyperion (Supreme Power) In August 2003, Marvel's mature-readers imprint MAX Comics started Supreme Power by J. Michael Straczynski, ostensibly chronicling a rebooted version of the Squadron Supreme. In this version, Hyperion is an alien sent to Earth as a baby and raised by agents of the United States government in a secret government compound by a pseudo-family, under the auspices of a normal childhood. His powers began developing early on and he and the scientists observing him discovered that he had superhuman strength, resistance to injury, and speed. Government agents began to manipulate him into becoming a weapon for the U.S. government, and he is publicly revealed to be a hero, dubbed as Hyperion. Eventually Mark questions his role, and seeks out proof of his origin hidden by the government. This leads to his attempted murder by the government and his current alienation from humanity.

Hyperion also has a weakness to "Argonite". Can you say "Kryptonite" boys and girls??

 

[Harlekin]

Look up the word homage and parody for one.

 

[Darthphere]

Hyperion also has a weakness to "Argonite". Can you say "Kryptonite" boys and girls??

Can you say homage anyone? The Supreme Court has ruled that homages and satirical representations of other characters is allowed under the first amendment and breaks no copyright laws. This is why its possible in this day and age to make characters strikingly similar to others as long as theyre different enough and not infringing in any trademark and copyright laws. A more recent example would be the obvious character references of the French superheroes in Fantastic Four.

 

[Kebab gud]

weel things are diffrent now.. back in the 40's Comicbooks where HUGE! every kid had one and DC was loosing ALOT of money on what they saw as a clone..
but as comic sales began to suffer, the laws startet to get more loopholes and so today its almost imposible to win a lawsuit like that .. even if someone published a comic calld superbman, about the last son of klipton and DC sued them .. they would probebly loose :P

As for Marvel Clones of DC characters there are aLOT!

Some say The Hulk is a copy of Solomon Grundy,
Some say Hawkeye is a copy of Green Arrow,
Some say Black Cat is a copy of Catwoman

blah bla bla..

today everyone copys everyone, if i had the time i could make a LONG list of Marvel Copyes of DC and the other way around..

most of them are created as homages to there competitor anyway

 

[Memphis Slim]

Pretty much, not exactly the same.

Did I say the same????? You're always so quick to spout off that you just miss everything!!

I said the similarities are so close, I've wondered how these couldn't be legal issues. Especially since Capt. Marvel and Superman were contested in court. And their origins were totally different!

 

[Darthphere]

Did I say the same????? You're always so quick to spout off that you just miss everything!!

I said the similarities are so close, I've wondered how these couldn't be legal issues. Especially since Capt. Marvel and Superman were contested in court. And their origins were totally different!

I've already answered your question about 3 times.

 

[Memphis Slim]

Can you say homage anyone? The Supreme Court has ruled that homages and satirical representations of other characters is allowed under the first amendment and breaks no copyright laws. This is why its possible in this day and age to make characters strikingly similar to others as long as theyre different enough and not infringing in any trademark and copyright laws. A more recent example would be the obvious character references of the French superheroes in Fantastic Four.

Thank you sir........
finally a constructive word from you. You've answered my question.

 

[Darthphere]

Thank you sir........
finally a constructive word from you. You've answered my question.

Closing....

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

Other than having similar powers (or exact same ones) they are completely different. A blind monkey could figure that out.



Except being the keyword don't you think?



The character of Mar-Vell was Marvel Comics' first use of the "Captain Marvel" name, primarily to ensure Marvel obtained the trademark to the title after the copyright on the original Fawcett Comics character of the same name came up for renewal. Captain Mar-Vell was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan and first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (December, 1967).

Because Marvel Comics trademarked their Captain Marvel comic book during the interim between the original Captain Marvel's Fawcett years and DC years, DC Comics is unable to promote and market their Captain Marvel/Marvel Family properties under that name. Since 1972, DC has instead used the trademark Shazam! as the title of their comic books and thus the name under which they market and promote the character. Consequently, Captain Marvel himself is sometimes erroneously referred to as "Shazam."




We can be here all day doing that, but whats the point? If the character is good, what does it matter. Like people who hate on Moon Knight because they say he's just a Batm,an rip-off, or Black Panther for the same reason (ludicrous).

although i like the character, but he is a batman rip-off. Issue 5 proved that and was pretty freakin lame. so i can understand why people hate on the character.

i also think theres similairty in the personas of both characters.

 

[Darthphere]

although i like the character, but he is a batman rip-off. Issue 5 proved that and was pretty freakin lame. so i can understand why people hate on the character.

i also think theres similairty in the personas of both characters.

Except there isn't. Batman is crazy, insane.

Marc Spector suffers from Multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia and is serving as an avatar of a egyptian god.

Issue #5 proved nothing other than most superheroes have secret hideouts and are rich. By that logic, Green Arrow is a Batman rip-off.

 

[Kebab gud]

Issue #5 proved nothing other than most superheroes have secret hideouts and are rich. By that logic, Green Arrow is a Batman rip-off.

Well Green Arrow was made to be a brighter version of Batman....

 

[IKnowSomeJudo]

Pretty much, not exactly the same.

Enough that he's not fooling anyone. Not that that was writer's intention in the first place. It certainly doesn't bother me, I love pastiches/homages, especially Superman and Batman ones.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

Except there isn't. Batman is crazy, insane.

Marc Spector suffers from Multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia and is serving as an avatar of a egyptian god.

Issue #5 proved nothing other than most superheroes have secret hideouts and are rich. By that logic, Green Arrow is a Batman rip-off.

same ****.


issue 5 did prove it and no GA is'nt a batman rip-off. you can play it off all you want. the strikingly similarities in issue 5 was just too close to the resemblence of batman, so don't go draging GA in this(GA has pretty much given up on the bat similarities) issue 5 had batman written all over it.

 

[Purple Man]

Arrow cave anyone?

Just kidding.

It's hard to get upset about a character that is a lot like Superman. He is pretty much the template that all other super heroes go by.

And didn't DC lose against Fawcett and Captain Marvel? But all the legal crap ended up killing Fawcett anyways so they had to sell to DC?

So many lawsuits have been filed because of the big red cheese it's ridiculous. Kind of ironic that Marvelman (Miracleman) is going through legal hell as well. Another great character loosely based off of Superman that gets nearly scrapped over legal battles. Hell, we could say the same about Superboy.

Luckily the Sentry and Hyperion haven't been and probably can't be touched.

 

[Darthphere]

same ****.


issue 5 did prove it and no GA is'nt a batman rip-off. you can play it off all you want. the strikingly similarities in issue 5 was just too close to the resemblence of batman, so don't go draging GA in this(GA has pretty much given up on the bat similarities) issue 5 had batman written all over it.

No, not same ****, there's crazy/insane, like John McClane in Die Hard, thats what Batman is.

Then there's actualyl mentally ****ed up, should be locked in a padded cell deal, thats Moon Knight.

I'll drag GA anywhere I want, the similarities were there, and then he evolved out, doesnt change the fact he was a Batman rip-off from the get go, his parents die, inherits a fortune, becomes a superhero, same exact ****. And the same can be said about a slew of characters.

Did issue #5 make you like the character any less, it didnt for me, considering I already knew all about it in the first place, and it didnt bother me when i first read Moon Knight back when I was 11 with backissues. People need to stop looking at the superficial and get down to the roots.

 

[Kebab gud]

Arrow cave anyone?

And didn't DC lose against Fawcett and Captain Marvel? But all the legal crap ended up killing Fawcett anyways so they had to sell to DC?

DC and fawcett settled out of court and fawcett stoped making comics they then sold most of there characters to Charlton Comics, they held on to the big red cheese who was sold to DC in 1980..

DC later bught Charlton Comics so almost all of Fawcett's old characters ar now owned by DC ..


oh and the ArrowCave... that was Dick Grayson who named that one :P

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

No, not same ****, there's crazy/insane, like John McClane in Die Hard, thats what Batman is.

Then there's actualyl mentally ****ed up, should be locked in a padded cell deal, thats Moon Knight.

I'll drag GA anywhere I want, the similarities were there, and then he evolved out, doesnt change the fact he was a Batman rip-off from the get go, his parents die, inherits a fortune, becomes a superhero, same exact ****. And the same can be said about a slew of characters.

Did issue #5 make you like the character any less, it didnt for me, considering I already knew all about it in the first place, and it didnt bother me when i first read Moon Knight back when I was 11 with backissues. People need to stop looking at the superficial and get down to the roots.

no. but i got batman flash backs. i soon as i saw those panels. i immediately said thats batman routine.

and YES GA did evolve out, but seems like huston is making this **** stick.

and no not the same can be said about a slew of character. can it be said for spiderman?hulk? doc strange? cap america? daredevil? FF? etc no.

it maybe superficial, but its pretty hard to when its basically in your face reading through those panels.

and im pretty sure bats can be clinically proven to have multiple personality disorder and a few other disorders. cause ya know john mclance does'nt go around mkaing partners out of 10 year olds.

 

[Darthphere]

and no not the same can be said about a slew of character. can it be said for spiderman?hulk? doc strange? cap america? daredevil? FF? etc no.

Theres not a whole bunch of characters similar to Batman? I like how you named some random heroes and missed the point.

it maybe superficial, but its pretty hard to when its basically in your face reading through those panels.

Please, everyone knows you like it when **** hits your face hard. Why complain now?

and im pretty sure bats can be clinically proven to have multiple personality disorder and a few other disorders. cause ya know john mclance does'nt go around mkaing partners out of 10 year olds.

Its funny, because most of those kids did it voluntarily and mostly against his wishes in the first place. Seriously, get a clue.

 

[Cobblepot]

Doc. Strange is Hugo Strange's nephew...

 

[yenaled]

I could be wrong over this so if anyone knows correct me please

Copyright issues usually only matter when a similar product b is taking away profit from the original product a, by fooling the public that they are actually buying the original.

In the 40s this was a much bigger problem when Superhero comics were only just starting in a growing industry. Now no-one is going to be buying Squadron Supreme thinking they are getting Justice League.

 

[Memphis Slim]

Well Green Arrow was made to be a brighter version of Batman....

No possible legal problems there since they are both DC property.