Board 8 > In the batman universe, who has merch rights to batman?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I imagine the batman property is even more valuable in that world than it is here, but if wayne enterprises owned and handled the rights it might be a dead giveaway. Is there just a big market of pirated batman merch in gotham? Can you get a "batman peeing in the corner" sticker for the back of your truck at like every local gas station?

The comics have covered everything so I know theres an answer to this.
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It's only explicitly discussed once or twice because Batman is actually not a very popular figure within the DCU's non-caped community. In fact, he's not well-known at all. For years, Batman operated as an urban legend. There have been Batman t-shirts here or there, but it seems the general consensus with regards to Batman and Gotham related heroes and villains is to mostly avoid commodifying them. After all, people die in the crossfire between Bat-Family members and Gotham super-villains almost daily.

Sure, you might see someone wearing some gear once or twice, but unlike the Flash or Booster Gold, Batman titles almost never give merchandising a spotlight. It exists, but fans and writers alike just don't care that much.
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Batman is a common criminal.
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Well, there was a Batman themed restaurant:

https://imgur.com/gallery/609Dz

But would anyone actually be able to claim "rights" since he's a public figure? I suppose Batman himself could copyright his own imagery, but that doesn't seem like something he would actually do.
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I imagine it'd be sort of like Santa Claus? probably public domain unless someone can prove they have the rights to it
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Grand Kirby posted...

Well, there was a Batman themed restaurant:

https://imgur.com/gallery/609Dz

But would anyone actually be able to claim "rights" since he's a public figure? I suppose Batman himself could copyright his own imagery, but that doesn't seem like something he would actually do.

There's also Planet Krypton, which uses all of the likenesses of most every DC superhero, and is owned by Booster Gold.

There is a legitimate argument to be made that Maxwell Lord trademarked all superhero likenesses.
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Riddle-Me-Fish is pretty good
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I'd imagined everyone in Gotham is too scared to have Batman stuff because they might get targeted by the Joker just for having said stuff.

I would expect The Joker to be the one secretly behind Batman Burger restaurants
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I always assumed Wayne Enterprises did batman shit
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Jakyl25 posted...

I would expect The Joker to be the one secretly behind Batman Burger restaurants

Their promo line would be "Joker Burger will put smile on your face."

Batman-wich
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scarletspeed7 posted...

There is a legitimate argument to be made that Maxwell Lord trademarked all superhero likenesses.

This is an incredibly satisfying answer, thanks
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There's an open invitation to claim the rights, as everyone knows it's Bruce, but he refused to show up because it's blatantly a trap and he just doesn't fucking feel like listening to some bad guy called 'the diddler' explain his master plan today

Punnyz posted...

I always assumed Wayne Enterprises did batman shit

You dont think that would lead to questions?
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Punnyz posted...

I always assumed Wayne Enterprises did batman shit

I literally came in to say "...Wayne Enterprises?" as if it was obvious.

Jakyl25 posted...

You dont think that would lead to questions?

I imagine Wayne Enterprises could be so big that they could buy up like multiple merch companies, some of which just happen to make Batman shit.

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Wayne Enterprises designs and sells a lot of Bat-tech too. Way too obvious.
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Jakyl25 posted...

Riddle-Me-Fish is pretty good

I prefer the Killer Crocque Monsieur
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I kind of want to see a comic series where all the villains of batman are villains strictly for marketing their brand and products. Such robbing a bank can get you a few million, but a toy/video game license can make that money look like chump change.

In this world Joker has hundreds of mobile gatcha games designed with dark patterns to make kids spend all their parents money, which they can get refunded if they go through comical levels of red tape.
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joker's trick

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SantaRPidgey posted...

comic series

You are way overestimating the amount of material you can get out of this.
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harley quinoa
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scarletspeed7 posted...

You are way overestimating the amount of material you can get out of this.

I'm basically thinking it's slice of life with that as a backdrop

but I don't even read comics so
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Wayne Enterprises got away with sponsoring a worldwide Batman corporation, they could probably swing merch rights without turning too many heads.

Also this is a gut feeling, but I feel like I see more Bat-merch outside of the actual Batman books, in other series. Batman is probably more popular as a member of the Justice League than he is as Gotham's superhero.
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