Happy 80th Birthday Batman

[Autbot_Benz]

Today is 80 years of the Dark Knight the Caped Crusader everyone's favorite vigilante

[IndigoErth]

Gotta say he's still looking pretty good for his age. Unreal to think the likes of Batman and Superman are 80+. I was shocked a few years ago when I learned what years they first appeared. Hope the Turtles follow in their footsteps and that most of us get to be around to see it happen.

[neatoman]

Oh right, this means DC only has 15 years left before the character officially enters the public domain. Unless of course more alterations to American copyright law is made, but that would literally raise the constitutional "limited period of time" to at least 120 years...

[Prowler]

Happy birthday, Batman...

What can I say? he's one of the most iconic fictional characters of all time. Batman is a household name. He's on pretty much the same league as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Super Mario, Superman, Donald Duck, etc. in terms of global recognition. Anyone from a 10 year old kid to a 90 year old grandma will know the name Batman.

Didn't grow up with DC or Marvel stuff myself. Here in the Old Continent we grow up reading European comics such as Tintin, Astérix, etc. or reading Disney comics(at least back in the 80s-90s). Most of my exposure to Batman and such was through TV. I watched a couple of the Tim Burton movies back in the day, but no longer remember them that well.

Still gotta finish the Arkham games one day.

[CyberCubed]

For an 80 year old man, Batman sure doesn't look a day over 35!

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Oh right, this means DC only has 15 years left before the character officially enters the public domain. Unless of course more alterations to American copyright law is made, but that would literally raise the constitutional "limited period of time" to at least 120 years...

As an American I am embarrassed I did not know this.....

[Autbot_Benz]

Tweeted 4 of my favorite BatMen and got 2 of the four to respond.

Got Dedrich Bader aka Batman Brave and the Bold who said First and Will Fredile Batman Beyond who said Seconded to my tweet

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

As an American I am embarrassed I did not know this.....

Yeah, a lot of the Golden Age superheroes will become public domain in roughly 15 years or so. This includes characters that are still really popular (or had subsequent popular variants) such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Shazam (mostly DC characters) and Captain America. I believe the earliest example (that can somewhat charitably be called a comic book superhero) is Buck Rogers, who'll go public domain in 2023, so that'll be fun.

The amusing thing is that public domain varies from country to country. Popeye is not considered public domain in the united states but he has been in most of the world for a decade. I'm not sure but my earlier example of Buck Rogers might have been public domain since 2010 outside of the united states. Then there are examples of characters that companies claim but aren't necessarily still under copyright protection in the states, such as Namor or the Blue Beetle, it's just that it seems like poking a sleeping bear to use them.

[Leo656]

So in about 15 years, any random ficc'er will be able to take their Batman or Wonder Woman stories and sell 'em?

...Yeah, that's gonna turn out just fantastic for everyone.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Leo656

So in about 15 years, any random ficc'er will be able to take their Batman or Wonder Woman stories and sell 'em?

...Yeah, that's gonna turn out just fantastic for everyone.

Not that I'm concerned about it since I've never really touched Batman beyond a surface level, but considering how much I know you love Batman, it'd suck to see something you hold so dearly get ruined. Plus, we're talking about a character and property with a phenomenal legacy. Batman deserves respect regardless.

[Leo656]

Oh, I simply can't wait for the commercial hardcover release of "50 Shades of Blue & Grey", an exploration of Bruce Wayne's secret bondage fetish written by some bored and pent-up housewife.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Yeah, a lot of the Golden Age superheroes will become public domain in roughly 15 years or so. This includes characters that are still really popular (or had subsequent popular variants) such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Shazam (mostly DC characters) and Captain America. I believe the earliest example (that can somewhat charitably be called a comic book superhero) is Buck Rogers, who'll go public domain in 2023, so that'll be fun.

I think this will have good and bad consequences. I believe that with a majority of DC's big names going into public domain it will force DC to invest in new characters and even a new universe.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Leo656

So in about 15 years, any random ficc'er will be able to take their Batman or Wonder Woman stories and sell 'em?

...Yeah, that's gonna turn out just fantastic for everyone.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Not that I'm concerned about it since I've never really touched Batman beyond a surface level, but considering how much I know you love Batman, it'd suck to see something you hold so dearly get ruined. Plus, we're talking about a character and property with a phenomenal legacy. Batman deserves respect regardless.

Originally Posted by Leo656

Oh, I simply can't wait for the commercial hardcover release of "50 Shades of Blue & Grey", an exploration of Bruce Wayne's secret bondage fetish written by some bored and pent-up housewife.

Originally Posted by Redeemer

I think this will have good and bad consequences. I believe that with a majority of DC's big names going into public domain it will force DC to invest in new characters and even a new universe.

I think "now people will ruin Batman with terrible ideas!" is sort the wrong attitude to take here. Think of more like Batman becoming more like Dracula, Tarzan or Sherlock Holmes. DC/WB won't be able to prevent bad Batman stories, but they can't reject potentially good ideas either because it'll "hurt the brand". To bring up more concrete examples, are there bad adaptations of public domain characters like Dracula? Sure but that hardly matters when anyone can use the character, just pick one of the good ones. There's literally over 70 Dracula movies, I think bad ones don't matter in that case.

Oh and Redeemer, DC Batman will still well quite well, there's plenty of material that won't enter the public domain for a long time. Do not underestimate the power of Ra's Al Ghul still being copyright protected. Though they will still have to worry about someone else doing a more popular Batman regardless.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Oh, I simply can't wait for the commercial hardcover release of "50 Shades of Blue & Grey", an exploration of Bruce Wayne's secret bondage fetish written by some bored and pent-up housewife.

For a second, I thought we were gonna launch into homoerotic Civil War BDSM fiction.

We dodged a fvcking bullet there.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by neatoman

To bring up more concrete examples, are there bad adaptations of public domain characters like Dracula? Sure but that hardly matters when anyone can use the character, just pick one of the good ones. There's literally over 70 Dracula movies, I think bad ones don't matter in that case.

Did Bram Stoker ever have the rights to Dracula? He is based on Medieval prince Dracula of Wallachia and the myths around him.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Did Bram Stoker ever have the rights to Dracula? He is based on Medieval prince Dracula of Wallachia and the myths around him.

Of course he owned the rights to Dracula, his widow managed sue the makers of Nosferatu for copyright infringement.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Oh, I simply can't wait for the commercial hardcover release of "50 Shades of Blue & Grey", an exploration of Bruce Wayne's secret bondage fetish written by some bored and pent-up housewife.

But what if it's so horribly written that it's hilarious? At the very least I'd be looking for dramatic readings of it on YouTube.

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

But what if it's so horribly written that it's hilarious?

You mean like the real fifty shades of grey?

[ZariusTwo]

Batman is the first inductee into the Comic Con Hall of Fame

https://www.newsarama.com/44542-batm...l-of-fame.html

[CyberCubed]

Is Batman still the most popular superhero? I wonder if he's still more popular than Spiderman or Superman.