RSS FeedBatman, Turkey Sues Warner Bros.
It’s not the first time a city or location is suing for intellectual property in its name. But it’s probably the first time a major blockbuster has been the target of the lawsuit.
The city of Batman, located in eastern Turkey, is named after the river by the same name that flows into the Tigris. Both the river and the oil-producing city derive their name from the adjoining Bati Raman mountains.
Batman is known around the world for a much more popular comic book character, turned into blockbuster film. The $1billion box office sales for the Dark Knight, the second highest ever, is probably what prompted the suit.
Huseyin Kalkan, the Kurdish mayor of the town, is preparing an interesting statement of claim, including psychological damages. He attributes a number of unsolved murders and a high female suicide rate on the film’s success.
The town is not without controversy, as many of the suicides are attributed to honour killings. Kalkan himself has been jailed for support of the Marxist-Kurdish terrorist organization also operating in northern Iraq, the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party). The Caped Crusader would probably have his hands full in the town that shares his namesake.
Vehbi Kahveci, head of the Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights Commission of the Istanbul Bar, stated that Batman (the character) and its related logos are already registered around the world. Kalkan’s claim is also limitations barred, probably by several decades.
Jonathon M. Seidl of Patrol Magazine said,
…do all the Springfields in the U.S. get to sue FOX and The Simpsons? Or do all the Springfields get to sue one another? Or maybe Hell, Michigan should sue the Devil. Or what about Garfield, New Jersey, Archie, Missouri, or Henry, Illinois?
The case would have a difficult time making a claim at common law (just for fun). It’s unlikely that a character first created in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939 could reasonably foresee any risk of nervous shock to a small obscure town on the other side of the world founded only two years before.
In addition to lack of temporal and spacial proximity, the recent SCC case of Mustapha v. Culligan suggests that a suddenly sensitive, or thin-skulled plaintiff, is not likely to be successful. Yet, Kalkan somehow received damages last year from D.C. Comics for the use of the Batman name.
But s. 61(2) of the Family Law Act does allow an action for loss of companionship. Let’s just hope that Kalkan’s wife is not one of the recently deceased in the town of Batman.
Cross-Posted from Slaw.ca.
Law is Cool - Podcast #11
Show Notes
Total Running Time 35:44
1:06 Jacob Kaufman and Omar Ha-Redeye introduce themselves.
1:17 Jacob notices different opening music for this episode of Law is Cool, and Omar explains it’s a sound clip from a performance by Rich Droste of the London War Resisters Support Group.
1:47 Jacob, who is seeing the film for the second time, discusses The Dark Knight.
2:14 Omar raises some of the criticisms of the film, such as its promotion of vigilantism.
2:17 Jacob raises an article by Spencer Ackerman that says that Batman is how Dick Cheney sees himself, through extraordinary rendition, torture and going beyond the law to achieve his goals.
2:47 Jacob mentions how the Cogitamus blog argues that Batman is actually a critique of Batman’s techniques, and that the Joker is actually blowback from Batman working outside the law. But Matthew Yglesias says it’s just a movie where a man dresses up as a bat.
3:32 Omar asks why Canadian law students should care about American politics, and shares his meeting with the Democrats Abroad - Canada.
4:27 Jacob mentions Canada and the world’s perspective on Sen. Obama and some of the critiques raised against him on our site, but also his position on the War in Iraq.
5:45 Omar adds that many Americans also rejected the War in Iraq, including some that came to Canada. He introduces Rich Droste, a war resister that joined the army at the age of 17 and now lives in London, Ont.
6:57 Rich explains why he joined the Army as a combat engineer, and the circumstances around his life as to why joined.
8:03 Rich shares how he learned more about the world as he was in the Army for a longer period of time, but took issue with prostitution and human trafficking rings he personally observed.
8:57 Rich tells us how he filed to become a conscientious objector, what it means to be a conscientious objector, and how these papers were lost.
9:56 Rich finds out he’s being sent to Iraq, and his choices were to either go in jail or re-enlist in a different job, and then discovers he’s going to be training the elite Rangers. He’s placed on medications, and sent to a chaplain when he refuses.
12:29 Rich shares on why he chose to come to Canada, where there are about 200-500 other resisters, and was attracted by the advocacy and education initiatives here.
13:20 Rich shares some of the benefits of Legal Aid, and how he sought assistance from Canadian lawyers.
15:11 His legal status here in Canada is a pending refugee claimant, and has a hearing on Sept. 17, 2008 to find out if there is a deportation order against him.
15:27 Omar speaks to David Heap of the London War Resisters Support Group, who describes the three broad areas of work they engage in and why he got involved in these issues.
16:37 David draws parallels between the current conflict in Iraq and previous military engagements by America, as well as some of his grievances around the war.
17:47 The legal support offered to war resisters is described. A broader political statement is also sought. Some resisters who returned believed they would be getting unconditional discharges and were instead imprisoned.
19:15 David mentions a day of action that is planned for September 2008
19:31 Omar mentions Bob Rae’s editorial in the Toronto Star on war resisters, which provides some history and context to the subject.
20:00 Jacob and Omar debate the role of the military.
21:02 Omar introduces a book by Ari Kaplan, The Opportunity Maker, Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development, which has an entire chapter dedicated to blogging in law school.
22:04 Ari relates some of the reasons why he wrote the book - to share strategies on things law students need to do and how to do it.
25:14 The importance of personal contact is emphasized.
25:46 Students should start thinking of rainmaking now. They can do creative things now because they are not fully affiliated with a firm as a lawyer and don’t require official sign-off. This is their chance to experiment.
28:13 The difference between law students and business students is described.
29:32 Ari mentions interviews he conducted with other students that can be found on the book’s site.
30:05 Ari describes the tremendous risk aversion built into the law, which often translates into a distaste for networking, and how many law students misunderstand this as using people. Instead, they should look to build meaningful relationships and to help each other out by connecting in a positive and genuine way.
32:10 The art of storytelling is is important because clients hire lawyers that tell the same kind of stories of success and enthusiasm that they tell.
33:21 Jacob likes that Ari mentioned one of his favorite bloggers, Jeremy Blachman of the Anonymous Lawyer, who eventually turned his site into a book.
34:12 Omar signs off with a song from Josh Randall, a Vietnam War Resister that moved to Canada and stayed here, and now helps resisters from the current war.
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