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Good news everybody!
The Batman wasn't plagiarised, US judge rules
Warner Bros Entertainment did not steal the plot for its 2022 blockbuster The Batman from a writer who created a story about the caped crusader three decades earlier, a federal judge has ruled.
US District Judge Paul Engelmayer also said the writer Christopher Wozniak infringed copyrights belonging to DC Comics, which employed him as a freelance artist in 1990 when he wrote The Ultimate Riddle, later retitled The Blind Man’s Hat.
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and are considering our next steps,” Wozniak’s lawyer, Terry Parker, said in an email.
Wozniak claimed he was “stunned” to learn that The Batman was a near copy of The Ultimate Riddle, with the Riddler terrorising a Gotham City beset by crime and controlled by a corrupt banking cartel.
But in a decision handed down on Wednesday, Engelmayer said Wozniak intentionally and without consent lifted material from DC Comics’ works to create his story, which “liberally exploits – indeed, is rife with” Batman characters and plot elements.
“The story’s use of the Batman character and the surrounding protected elements is an act of clear and blatant copyright infringement,” the New York judge wrote.
The Batman wasn't plagiarised, US judge rules
Warner Bros Entertainment did not steal the plot for its 2022 blockbuster The Batman from a writer who created a story about the caped crusader three decades earlier, a federal judge has ruled.
US District Judge Paul Engelmayer also said the writer Christopher Wozniak infringed copyrights belonging to DC Comics, which employed him as a freelance artist in 1990 when he wrote The Ultimate Riddle, later retitled The Blind Man’s Hat.
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and are considering our next steps,” Wozniak’s lawyer, Terry Parker, said in an email.
Wozniak claimed he was “stunned” to learn that The Batman was a near copy of The Ultimate Riddle, with the Riddler terrorising a Gotham City beset by crime and controlled by a corrupt banking cartel.
But in a decision handed down on Wednesday, Engelmayer said Wozniak intentionally and without consent lifted material from DC Comics’ works to create his story, which “liberally exploits – indeed, is rife with” Batman characters and plot elements.
“The story’s use of the Batman character and the surrounding protected elements is an act of clear and blatant copyright infringement,” the New York judge wrote.