03-30-2006, 03:07 AM
Quote:IMO I don\'t see a problem or care when someone is recasting a rare hard to find mass produced mask. DC Direct is no longer producing these masks so they\'re not loosing any money, the person who sculpted the screen used mask is not loosing any money he got payed to make the mask for the movie alone.
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Grey area, is right. Technically, they are losing money. DC Direct (the toy company) , nor the sculptor for the prop is really the benefactor/loser, though. Neither directly have rights to the image. Who owns the image, character and likeness is actually the company DC comics. Even though DC Direct (A subsidiary of DC Comics) no longer produces the mask, DC paid all the fixed costs to bring Alan Moore\'s character to print as well as screen in the first place. They paid for licensing rights, overhead productions costs for the film, as well as overhead production costs for the mass produced mask.
To have someone else recast a mask and sell something based off of a licensed character is the origin of copyright law. If people could breach copyright law, no producer/manufacturer/filmmaker/comic book publisher would fund the outrageous amounts of money to create a comic book or movie character in the first place. The only reason DCcomics would spend 150 million dollars (or whatever amount) on a movie, is to solely have rights to compensation from any financial gain.