Piracy, Permission, and the Batmobile
In the entertainment marketing industry, intellectual property is an
on-going concern. Three issues in IP law should be considered to avoid legal
ramifications - Piracy, Permission and
the Batmobile.
The Batmobile? Yes, the Batmobile – “Holy smoke, Batman” the Batmobile
is intellectual property. The Batmobile symbolizes copyright protection and
infringement. Recently U.S. District Judge, Ronald Lew,
ruled that the Copyright Act
protects car designs if it is really special. Business owner Mark Towles was
sued by a Warner Bros subsidiary for infringing upon the Batmobile’s design.
Towles owns a business called “Gotham Garage” that sold replica batmobiles.
While Towles argues that the car’s design should not be protected because it is
a “useful article”, the Judge Lew did not agree. This was a rather interesting
case of copyright infringement. From the name of the company to the replica
cars, Towles did not consider or research possible legal issues before
launching his company. It is easy for business owners to overlook what may come
but it is significant to investigate copyrights prior to starting a business or
project.
Permission
can prevent many intellectual property lawsuits but all too many times it is
forethought. Google understands the importance of seeking permission from the
right holders prior to launching a project. It is anticipated that Google will
launch a streaming music service for users to connect to through devices.
However, music rights have held the project up from public beta testing and
release. CNET’s Greg Sandoval attests that “Licensing rights for digital
lockers of this sort is largely uncharted territory for the labels.” Google did
not just share the music but they are going through the process to acquire
licensing properly and legally sound – this is ideal.
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