The Artful Jurist

Commenting on the previous post about Disney acquiring Marvel Entertainment and its 5,000 characters (including superheros like Spiderman and Iron Man), a friend and filmmaker posed the following question:

Does this mean they own just the image/likeness of the character, or the words they often say "Holy Batmobile, Batman!" or both in conjunction. Do they also own the superpowers they have, or just them using them?

Good question. As I responded to my friend...Knowing Disney's reputation, I wouldn't put it past them to try to claim intellectual property rights on how a character combs his hair.

But the thing is that comic book characters (and especially superheros) are more than just a name and appearance. They're also a set of very particular characteristics that make them stand out from all others. Chances are, if you create a character who's able to sail about the city by shooting webs out of his wrists, simply changing the name to Arachnid Man isn't guaranteed to keep Disney's lawyers from sending a cease and desist letter.