DC Comics v. Towle
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
802 F.3d 1012 (2015)
DC Comics (plaintiff) held copyrights in the Batman comics later licensed for a 1966 TV show and 1989 movie, each featuring differently designed but consistently named and characterized Batmobiles; Towle (defendant) sold replicas and conversion kits modeled on the TV and movie versions. DC sued for copyright infringement, the trial court entered stipulated judgment finding infringement, and Towle appealed, arguing the Batmobile wasn't copyrightable given its varying appearance.
Whether a fictional character with consistent, distinctive qualities, unique character traits, and expressive elements that make it widely identifiable is copyrightable, despite changing physical appearance over time.