Chch firms face angry Batman

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 21

Chch firms face angry Batman

By

NEVIN TOPP

Two Christchurch companies have had a run in with Batman, and other New Zealand companies using the Batman name and logo appear headed for the same fate, unless licensed.

The two Christchurch companies, one a retailer and the other a clothing manufacturer, have been warned about the Batman infringements. The retailer has been sent a letter giving it seven days to stop selling unlicensed Batman merchandise, ahead of the release of a new film about the Caped Crusader. Mr Nick Watson, a director of In Character N.Z., which is handling the Batman Licensees in New Zealand, said Warner Brothers were serious about copyright infringements of the Batman name and logo.

After the United States merger of Warner Brothers and Time Inc., a Warners merchandising division was set up, with about SUS2.S billion in retail sales world-wide this year. Warners merchandising division had established its South-East Asian headquarters in Sydney, and was building a sAustlOOM theme park in Queensland, he said.

Warner Brothers have sent letters to the two Christchurch, firms warn-

ing them about infringing copyright in the use of the Batman name and logo. The letter, from Warners’ patent attorneys, also asserts the sale of the unauthorised Batman merchandise may be in breach of the Fair Trading Act because the sale could mislead or deceive people into believing that such merchandise is endorsed by “the client.”

The client in this case is DC Comics, Inc., of the United States, which holds the copyrights to Batman.

Mr Watson said the legal actions were being co-ordinated from Warners Merchandising American offices, and once they started to run "such actions were out of our hands.”

The manager of Ace Tshirts, Mr Bruce Rae, received a letter from the patent attorneys working for Warners.

Mr Rae has been selling T-shirts for 20 years, including Batman ones for 15 years, and this is the first time he has received such a letter.

Mr Rae yesterday withdrew the unauthorised Batman T-shirts from sale and hopes to have the authorised varieties available in his shop tomorrow.

An Auckland firm holds the licence for the authorised Batman Tshirts — there are 20 versions — which are being imported. In Character N.Z. holds the licensee distribution rights for Batman. It authorises New Zealand companies to make, sell, or distribute merchandise involving Batman, for either a fee based on volume or a percentage of the sales.

Mr Fred Gebbie, the Warners New Zealand licensing agent, who also works for In Character,

siad that Regina Confections paid a licence fee to make and market Batman bubblegum in New Zealand and Australia, and the right was exclusive to the Oamaru-based firm. Anyone wanting to use the . Batman name and logo on merchandising had to approach- the licensing agent, In Character, which would consider whether the idea had “panache and couth.” It also depended on whether someone else already held the licence to such merchandise, he said. “If someone came up with an idea that was suitable, it could be distributed world-wide if noone else had previously put it up.”

Two Auckland men who ran a firm called Blue Magic, thought of a telephone using Alf, the alien in the comedy television programme of the same name, and gained the world-wide rights, he said.

The hunt for Batman unauthorised sellers is now heading north. Mr Gebbie said attention was focusing on three northern companies.

The “Batman” film, already a hit in the United States, is said to have cost between SUS4OM and S4SM to make. However, one film company executive suggested that these figures may be conservative because film studios do not like releasing true figures. In Character holds licensing distribution rights for a number of companies, including Columbia Pictures.

The World Wrestling Federation, which runs the popular wrestling television programme, was another big client which had attracted unauthorised, unlicensed merchandising in New Zealand, he said.