This document contains a table of contents and sections on copyright laws, a case about Batman filming at a location with artwork, and the author's opinion on the case. The copyright section explains that creators hold copyrights for original works but they expire over time unless renewed, and certain uses like parody may not infringe. The next section discusses a case where an artist sued over his towers being filmed for Batman, but he had previously given the building owner the rights to the towers so he had no case for infringement. The author expresses understanding for why the artist felt wronged but notes the artwork's message was unclear.
3. COPYRIGHT LAWS
Basically, if someone creates an original work they hold
the copyrights. This means no one else can use the work
without permission, and if they do then they are liable to
being sued. Copyrights do not last though, they
eventually have to be renewed and it costs money,
unfortunately however, they can still last a very long time.
If a company like Disney owns the rights then it lasts a
hundred years. But there are work arounds, if you use
just a small portion or are parodying something then you
should be fine.
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4. BATMAN VS. LEICESTER
Ok, so the people making Batman begins got permission
from a building owner to use his building in the film. Well,
Andrew Leicester apparently had made some radial
towers as art up there and didn’t want his arts message
to be ruined by its being in the movie, so he sued. Well,
it’s kinda hard to sue someone on copyright infringement
when you no longer hold the rights. Yes, Leicester had
handed over the rights to the building owner when he put
the towers up there (an actual verbal agreement, it’s not
like just putting them up there was handing over the
rights) so he no longer had a case.
See the whole story here:
http://www.benedict.com/Visual/Batman/Batman.aspx
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5. BIASES
What’s that? My opinion? Well, first off, I understand the
way the guy felt, I mean, I’d be pretty pissed if my art was
all of associated with an amazing movie and would be
seen by millions. I mean come on, they practically did him
a favor, but I have to say, I never saw the message he was
trying to portray from it in the first place.
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