Dynamite Responds to ERB, Inc, Tarzan, John Carter Lawsuit
From Comicsbeat.com You’ll recall that a few weeks ago, the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs sued Dynamite over their ongoing lines of Tarzan and John Carter comics. Although the earliest works in each series are in the public domain, ERB, Inc. sued on the basis of trademark infringement, claiming that Dynamite’s Lord of the Jungle was infringing their trademark for “TARZAN LORD OF THE JUNGLE” and so on.
Well, Dynamite has responded, and it’s pretty much a blanket denial, as you can see above. Dynamite’s defense is pretty simple: the books are in the public domain, and ERB, Inc., doesn’t have a trademark to infringe.
One thought on “Dynamite Responds to ERB, Inc, Tarzan, John Carter Lawsuit”
I really hope Dynamite wins because the notion something as important to our culture as the “free” public domain is an artifact of an earlier legal times is extremely disheartening and depressing. What….100 years isn’t enough? The reason something even passes into public domain is because of the acknowledgement that after a certain point, something goes beyond the original creator and passes into the culture that surrounds us.
I’m not crazy about the idea someone can “own” culture, and I find the phrase “intellectual property” ridiculous since the phrase works by making an analogy to physical property that’s absurd. I take all your food, you have to go hungry. If I make a John Carter of Mars comic…there’s MORE John Carter of Mars stories!
I hate to be cynical (I hate people that are cynical all the time, and that just isn’t me), but when it comes to copyright, the legality of it isn’t as important as who the biggest kid on the block is.
Regardless of the facts of the case –
Whoever has the best lawyers wins.
Still, this should be very instructive because there is a difference between copyright and trademark. A trademark is a term that has power because it is associated with something, like the Nike swoosh logo. Copyright is “ownership of intellectual property.”