City Allegedly Violates Copyright : Warner Tries to Zap, Bam Batmobile in Las Cruces

Holy copyright, Batman!

Warner Communications wants the city of Las Cruces to stop using the Batmobile name and Batman logo on its breath analyzing testing van.

Warner owns DC Comics, which has the copyright to the Batman character, a costumed crime-fighting super hero in mythical Gotham City. Batman first appeared in comic books in 1939 and has remained popular in television and movies. Batman and his sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder, patrol Gotham City streets in a customized car called a Batmobile.

Warner had received a newspaper article on the Las Cruces Batmobile used to test alcohol levels in suspected drunken drivers.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Marcy Driggers said Warner’s New York office wrote the city asking that the name and bat-wing logo be removed from the van.

“We’re hoping that they realize that we are harmlessly using the name and that it’s positive,” Driggers said. “If we were anti-law, then I could see their position, but it’s a good symbol for a law-enforcing, crime-fighting machine.

“I don’t think that even the most naive Las Cruces citizen would expect Batman to jump out of our van.”

Driggers in March wrote to Warner stating the city’s position.

“They may be correct technically about the logo and the name,” she said. “But frankly, I don’t think that we are infringing. The purpose of a copyright is to protect the company from merchandising, but the city is not making money on our Batmobile.”