DC Comics Multimedia General - A crisis of infinite fuck ups

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I think there's also weird stipulations for things that sort of compete with official works so I think that's why we dont just have some shitty cheapo studio pumping out an old school mickey mouse series already and why we probably won't have a superman movie just about a dude named Clark Kent with an S on his chest who tanks bullets and jumps high right out of the gate in a decade.
One of the big issues I foresee is that, as stated above, every iteration is technically its own copyright, which heavily muddies the water in terms of usability. Companies like Disney are, guessing, using older iterations of the characters now as to create legal hellscapes in terms of public domain. I could use 1939 Batman, but what is to say Warner cannot make a case that I am stealing from Caped Crusader, which uses a near identical design.

I suspect a lot of why Mickey isn’t used much, even in the older form, is because Disney is directly using the classic 30s design these days, just updated. The more you divert from Steamboat Willie, the higher the likelihood of them being able to fuck you in the ass legally because you stole from some random short or comic not yet in public domain.

Superheroes are going to be a mass pain the ass given the wide variety of looks they have had. Any creator will be stepping into a minefield of taking from non-PD version to the point where the characters are never truly free from their corpos. The Superman or Bat symbol alone are going to be a shit show to get into public domain.

This is true but... I'd personally like a Batman whose primary antagonists were gangsters and hoods rather than Supervillains. It would let him play to his strengths as a street level hero who used fear and stealth to strike terror into criminals.
Even this would be a hard create. Forget the bat design, the individual gadgets, the crime families, Gotham, hell even Alfred will all be locked up tight if you try to do this. At some point @Newcomer 42 is correct in that you are better off just creating your own character.
 
but the franchise will largely stay under Warner for years to come as every villain and side character will need to be waited on for their date.
people would be shocked how much Finger came up with that we still use today. the major cast is all there besides Harley and Freeze. now you're making me imagine a 1940s set Arkham city
The public domain is such a weird can of worms because theres only so much you can do with something unless the entirety of a work is in it. If I was a better writer I'd love to do some Batman or Superman material but all the shit id want to play with won't be available until like the 2050s.

I think there's also weird stipulations for things that sort of compete with official works so I think that's why we dont just have some shitty cheapo studio pumping out an old school mickey mouse series already and why we probably won't have a superman movie just about a dude named Clark Kent with an S on his chest who tanks bullets and jumps high right out of the gate in a decade
you're right. the Tarzan IP has been public domain for awhile but those fuckers hide behind a lot of trademarks to really fuck people over. i'm sure all it will take is a supreme court case to smack down this bullshit once someone tries to keep a non-dead IP down.

like if some dude on youtube wanted to do a live action version of the first batman comic when it hits public domain, its not going to be a steamboat willie scenario where its "technically" the same character. like all the iconic stuff is there.

batman1940.jpg

You want Batman in a timepiece. Stunts, fights, gadgets, everything. All that costs money and come with risks. Look at Batwoman. Ruby was nearly crippled.
people don't realize the 1960s series was the most expensive tv show ever made when it came out. that was a big reason it got cancelled too, it might look cheesy now but all those shitty special effects people mock actually cost a lot of money. time and safety is a huge reason CGI replaced practical.
but what is to say Warner cannot make a case that I am stealing from Caped Crusader, which uses a near identical design.
the obvious supreme court smackdown that will happen if Warner tries that bullshit. literally the entire plan will be to do what you just said and hope there isn't some billionaire willing to bankroll a court case to the inevitable conclusion. The main reason Gawker survived as long as it did is because they knew it would be a huge money sink to actually shut the site down and it would be a waste of time. same thing with that aussie fag who defamed billy mitchell. plenty of bad faith actors embracing the kiwifarms idea of only fucking with broke bitches who can't do shit to them. All it takes is some rich playboy with no dayjob like Musk or Theil or any of the AI guys to go "i'll bankroll the lawsuit" and the entire house of cards falls. Especially with AI now, the amount of money that can be made killing off IP rights is too much to not proceed with the case if Warner tries anything.
 
Superheroes are going to be a mass pain the ass given the wide variety of looks they have had. Any creator will be stepping into a minefield of taking from non-PD version to the point where the characters are never truly free from their corpos. The Superman or Bat symbol alone are going to be a shit show to get into public domain.
What about the parodies from other companies like Homelander or Omni-Man? Would they be considered copyright violations?
 
I'd personally like a Batman whose primary antagonists were gangsters and hoods rather than Supervillains. It would let him play to his strengths as a street level hero who used fear and stealth to strike terror into criminals.
yeah ngl I really think there's a lot of room for Captain Bulge to stop some normal shit like bank robberies and stuff
like George Reeves and Fleischer Superman, they're mostly busting up thugs and mad scientists and axis powers, they don't bother with the name villains
 
What about the parodies from other companies like Homelander or Omni-Man? Would they be considered copyright violations?
No

Parody is in a weird spot, but the ones you mentioned theoretically would be fine. They are wholly unique characters with unique designs, even if they are made to invoke Superman.

Someone strapping them with the iconic S symbol would be where lines get crossed given the copyright and trademarking of those things.

In terms of using Superman himself, my main concern would be that they’ll have never ending variations, just close enough, that they will take people to court as you are stepping on Warner’s property. As said with Batman, they just made a new version extremely similar to the 39 version, likely with intent to go to court over anyone using the character. They will argue the culprit is taking the new version. Having a similar enough bat symbol could do someone in, assuming no rich boy steps in to challenge the case.

Edit:
A large chunk of this also comes down to how much a company wants to sue and from there how well you can define differences - assuming a not bought court. There is no real set guidelines to any of this, but in the case of public domain, Warner will likely try every trick to preserve their IP rights.
 
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This is just a side tangent to this discussion, but I'll never stop getting a kick out of seeing people do a 180 on copyright reform as soon as generative AI entered the mix. Before that, people generally agreed that copyright law had gone way too far, especially in the wake of the DMCA and having to fight bullshit claims fired off even if you were well within the bounds of fair use, hampering your ability to get your own works seen even if it eventually worked out in your favor. But now that people can type a prompt and make an image or video of famous characters doing whatever, all of a sudden you have the same people deepthroating megacorps and defending their rights to have a century-long stranglehold on an IP whose creation they probably had nothing to do with. These tards are demanding even stricter copyright enforcement because they don't like a new technology, and they can't even comprehend the knock-on effects that their attempts to smother genAI would have.

Unfortunately, if anyone's likely to get their way, it's the corporations and their ballwashers. They've got the money and lobbyists and lawyers to ensure that copyright only ever gets stricter. We may have reached the end of how long they can feasibly extend copyright durations (I guess the Rat figured it wouldn't be good PR to try and keep Steamboat Willie out of the public domain again), but that doesn't mean they can't restrict what you can do in other ways.

If only we could return to the original 28-year copyright. It'll never happen, but a man can dream.
 
This is true but... I'd personally like a Batman whose primary antagonists were gangsters and hoods rather than Supervillains. It would let him play to his strengths as a street level hero who used fear and stealth to strike terror into criminals.
Batman has been sanded down for realism enough already. He is not like Punisher who can be reduced to a guy with guns. His improbably tough armor and over the top gadgets will always stick out in a grounded setting.
 
Shocked WB hasn't announced any absolute tv shows or movies yet. We're going to hear in a decade how Gunn completely failed with his reboot universe.
Unfortunately, if anyone's likely to get their way, it's the corporations and their ballwashers
the problem is AI companies have way more cash and will make way more with copyright gone, disney is worth only 15% as much as Tesla. AI companies like openAI, Claude, xAI, are worth at least 25x as much as media companies and if they can knock out copyright entirely it makes them even more worthless. Factor in the ideological bends too and its even more of a no-brainer. one of the last big industries to be heavily unionized is entertainment, so defeating them is like a killing blow to any lefty power that might stop evil capitalists in the US.

you really think apple or oracle will side with their media arm over the tech arm in regards to AI copyright? media is going to realize there's always a bigger fish in the near future. If i was some AI douche i'd try and fast track a supreme court ruling as quickly as possible before Trump leaves office, because the second the democrats get in power, they're most likely going to smack down AI as revenge for tech companies siding with trump in '24
 
Shocked WB hasn't announced any absolute tv shows or movies yet. We're going to hear in a decade how Gunn completely failed with his reboot universe.
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It is possible that Zack Snyder's work on DC may be viewed similarly to how the prequel Star Wars films are regarded today, given the mixed reception of the Disney sequel trilogy. Like Disney's Star Wars films, Zack Snyder's DC projects at least conveyed a clear vision and generated notable commentary, whether positive or negative.
 
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It is possible that Zack Snyder's work on DC may be viewed similarly to how the prequel Star Wars films are regarded today, given the mixed reception of the Disney sequel trilogy. Like Disney's Star Wars films, Zack Snyder's DC projects at least conveyed a clear vision and generated notable commentary, whether positive or negative.
oh god fucking no
snyder's movies were fucking messes and incoherent even taking them solely without any continuity
let's not be fucking delusional here
 
oh god fucking no
snyder's movies were fucking messes and incoherent even taking them solely without any continuity
let's not be fucking delusional here
Bat sperm shirt

That’s not even getting into Hack and his bisch using the death of their kid (failed parents) to insulate the Snyder Cut from criticism and it would’ve gotten more if they didn’t use the corpse as armor.
 
let's not be fucking delusional here
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If the Supergirl leaks are accurate, we are looking at a movie that is more preachy than She-Hulk and birds of prey, including a pro-slut message. Yes that will make Zack Synder DC look good compared to James Gunn DC. Even Birds of prey shy away from being an alcoholic slut empowering. If anything Harley Quinn learning to be less of an alcoholic slut was her story arc. This is without not even bringing up Zack Synder was smart enough to stay away from racial politics in his DC movies. James Gunn you get a nothing but white men bad shit.
 
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