The Dark ... Lawsuit?
Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Bruce Wayne just saw this story in Variety and boy, he is not amused. It seems that in the fine country of Turkey, there is a city called Batman -- and they're now suing Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros for royalties. Huseyin Kalkan, the mayor of Batman, is accusing The Dark Knight producers of using the city's name without permission. "There is only one Batman in the world," Kalkan said. "The American producers used the name of our city without informing us."
No one is quite sure why it took so long for the town of Batman to cop to the fact that their town was named after a DC comics character, who's been around since 1939 -- the mayor is currently trying to gather evidence to prove that the town has existed longer than the character. Everyone knows that when young Bruce Wayne was casting about for an idea, something to haunt Gotham's criminals, he looked at his map of Turkey for a name. It didn't actually have anything to do with, you know, dressing up like a man-bat.
And because this isn't crazy enough, the mayor is also blaming Nolan and Warner Bros for the town's unsolved murders, and high female suicide rate. Something about the psychological effect of the film's success on the fine citizens of the town. (Frankly, I would think if you were in a town called Batman, you'd be a lot less likely to commit crime for fear he lived there. But that's just me.) The only believable claim Mayor Kalkan has made is that citizens have a really tough time registering businesses abroad.
As of yet, no legal action has actually been filed -- but when the lawsuit arrives, please assign Harvey Dent to handle it!
Also of note: Warners has officially launched a "For Your Consideration" website for The Dark Knight, which includes the script for the film in case anyone is interested.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-12-2008 @ 9:33AM
Riley Freeman said...
oh man. they should jump off a building. this character has been around how long? hes probably older than anyone that lives theres and nowwwwwwwwwwwww they wanna sue. this world is going downhill
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11-12-2008 @ 10:06AM
Commodore said...
Those Turks are off their rocker, because Batman is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Batman Hill. They gonna sue Oz too?
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11-12-2008 @ 10:45AM
Brant said...
I find it interesting that Warner Bros is choosing to promote Heath Ledger in the "best supporting actor" category rather than "best actor."
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11-12-2008 @ 11:06AM
Mr. R said...
Nolan and Warner could spend 1% of the movie's earnings and just buy the whole town, they could even use it for promotion for the next film by turning the town's emblem into a bat...;)
You gotta admit, it was a good plan to promote Batman's tourism
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11-12-2008 @ 5:41PM
Jim said...
What you failed to report in your story is that there is also a drive in the town of Batman to rename it Robin. It's a well known fact that 67% of the town of Batman's male residents are rather short and effeminate and love the idea of being sidekicks to their domestic partners. Unfortunately, their petition to rename the town has fallen on deaf ears, as their mayor is too busy fighting a lawsuit from Purina charging that he is using the name of their famous dog food line without their permission.
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11-12-2008 @ 7:19PM
Mr. R said...
Jim, I think you forgot to mention in your accurate post that the traditional costume of that 67% of men is composed of green tights and yellow short sleeve jackets.
11-13-2008 @ 1:39AM
i believe said...
lol that city just Jumped the shark!
They should be nuked by NOLAN!
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11-15-2008 @ 3:22AM
Nick said...
oh my bloody god. if they want to sue to the producers of the dark knight and warner brothers, they might as well shoot themselves. batman has been around for more than fifty years and not once have people ever said that the name breaches anything, well it doesnt. the mayor of Batman town should get a life, just because the two names are exactly the same coincidentally, doesnt mean they breach any copyright or shit like that.
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11-23-2008 @ 8:56PM
John said...
This is the only thing that has gotten me to laugh all day. Haha. Can't wait to bring this up at lunch with the buds.
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