‘Physical, conceptual, distinctive’—why the Batmobile is copyrightable

For “Batman” and other comic book fans, it does not come as a huge surprise that the Batmobile is a character entitled to copyright protection. Indeed, the Batmobile is a fictional, high-tech automobile with key characteristics such as “bat-like external features, ready to leap into action to assist Batman in his fight against Gotham’s most dangerous villains, and equipped with futuristic weaponry and technology that is ‘years ahead of anything else on wheels’”, according to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in DC Comics v Towle in September.