The Artful Jurist

In the battle for truth, justice, and the American way, comic book characters are often the source of legal conflict.  That’s because comic book sales are big business, totaling more than $400 million last year alone…and that’s not factoring in what happens when a character like Batman or Superman makes a splash in the movies.  Then you’re talking about potentially the billion dollar range.  So it’s no surprise that, when a comic book character becomes a break-out success, litigation can spring from those who claim that the people making all the money actually stole the idea for that character from the plaintiff.

But, just in case you were thinking that only the A-list biggies are worth fighting over, sometimes even the more minor, supporting characters can be fought over.  Case in point, the legal battle between former Spider-Man artist Todd McFarlane and science fiction writer Neil Gaiman.

In 2002, Mr. Gaiman sued Mr. McFarlane, his former collaborator, claiming he jointly owned the copyright on minor characters in the Spawn comic book series.  A jury in federal court found in Mr. Gaiman’s favor, and since then the two have been trying to calculate what Mr. McFarlane owes Mr. Gaiman.

Among the minor characters Mr. Gaiman recently claimed are his creation are what’s described as two avenging angels in armored bras and thong bikinis.  Let me tell ya…Nothing strikes terror into the heart of evil like a thong bikini.  But, whether these characters will be judged to meet the standards necessary for a copyright claim is something that may have to be decided by the court.

Typically, characters don’t qualify for copyright protection.  But superheroes are often such extreme examples of characters, that they sometimes can be copyrighted.